


The Impact of One's Life

by MrAnihalator



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: "Tofu delivery boi", Alternate Universe, Blueberry Detective, Cliffhangers, Dark Past, Dark Theme, Death, F/M, Flashbacks, Friends to Lovers, Initial D references, Murder Mystery, My First AO3 Post, Mystery, Occasional Third Person POV, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV First Person, Persona 3 References, Persona 4 Spoilers, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Buildup to Chapter 9, Yes that's my nickname for Naoto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:29:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 67,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27830788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrAnihalator/pseuds/MrAnihalator
Summary: What if Marukyu Tofu did delivery? AU where a third year at Yasogami High working at Rise’s tofu shop gets caught up in the events of Rise's disappearance. As he delves deeper into this mystery, he eventually finds out that this is far beyond him...
Relationships: Amagi Yukiko/Narukami Yu, Amagi Yukiko/Persona 4 Protagonist, Amagi Yukiko/Seta Souji, Kujikawa Rise/OC, Kujikawa Rise/Original Male Character(s), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 20
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Updates come every weekend and Wednesdays. Stay tuned!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this is literally my first official fanfic that I have created, so if there are any spelling errors, plot holes, or just plain bad writing anywhere, be sure to let me know in a kind and orderly fashion. This technically isn't my first fanfic, as I had created a couple of Persona 5 fanfictions in the past, however they were for a very small audience, and they sucked. BAD. So, this one will be the first one that I'm actually taking seriously, and posting to an actual fanfic site. I was planning on releasing it when I finished the entire fanfic, however, one of my fans wanted the link to the fanfiction, so I guess I'm posting it now. The title also probably sucks, so I might change that. True reason for the title won't come until WAY later. Also, one last thing. I feel like this should be obvious, but there will be full game spoilers to Persona 4 (not Golden, however, Golden's events are mentioned MUUUUCH later in the story, but not spoiled. This is based on Persona 4 vanilla, even though I've only played Golden). Well, most people probably aren't going to read a long-ass notes section, so I'll just make a disclaimer at the bottom of this.

June 22nd, 2011:

I switch to my favorite radio station as I calmly drive down the small road towards my job: a delivery boy working for an old lady who runs a small tofu shop. I have been doing this job since the start of the school year and I have greatly enjoyed it. The old lady was nice to me, it gave me money, and it gave me an excuse to take my car out for a ride. Not many students at my school could drive yet, much less even own a car. However due to family complications, I had to start high school at a much older age, allowing me enough time to learn how to drive and to inherit my dad’s old Toyota in time for my third and final year at Yasogami High. Today I was in a questionable mood: I had just received information from the old lady that a girl would be staying at the tofu shop with us, apparently her granddaughter. I had no idea who she was, what she looked like, or how old she was, and frankly I didn’t care. All that mattered to me was whether or not she got in the way of my job.

As I pulled into my destination, I noticed a crowd of people gathered around the tofu shop.

 _What the hell?_ I thought, _Did business just spike? How?_

As I got closer to my destination, a small, red light stole my attention. It’s source was from those glowing batons officers used to direct traffic, however their holder was a skinny detective. His tie was poorly done, and his hair was all messy. As I put more and more pressure on the brake, I could see his lips moving and a faint noise which I assumed was him talking. My car shook to a halt, and I stepped out, not bothering to turn off the engine.

“You can’t park here!” The detective shouted, “Move farther up the street.”

Even his voice sounds lame. I walked towards him, “The hell? I’ve been parking here for two months.”

He shook his head, “All visitors must park farther down.”

“Wh-visitor? I _work_ here!”

The detective didn’t seem to understand. I tried to gesture my car and show him the sticker I placed on the side, but he wasn’t listening. Just then another detective (one who actually knew how to tie a tie) emerged from down the street. He was around 5-10 years older than the man I was speaking with, and he seemed to be his partner. 

“You!”

He strode over to the younger detective, clear irritation in his voice.

“What did I tell you about leaving your post?”

“Er, sorry Dojima-san, I was just directing this guy to the designated parking area.”

“I told you, _I work here!_ I been parking here for two months!”

The detective looked from the younger detective, to me, and then back to the younger detective.

Dojima sighed, “Dammit Adachi, why do you always screw things up?”

 _Dear god, he’s normally like thi-_

My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden realization. I turned to the older man.

“Did you say _Adachi_?”

I turned back to the younger detective, beyond irritated, “ **I got an 8,000 yen order from you two minutes before closing!** ”

Adachi, seeing that he wasn’t in a good situation, scavenged for an exit.

“I, uhh… hey! What do you think you're doing?”

He ran after a car that had blown right past mine and stopped right near Daidara’s in hopes of getting to the tofu shop, which I still had no idea why everyone was there.

“Tch,” I had almost forgotten the older detective was still there, “Dumbass”

“He’s usually like this?” I asked.

Dojima sighed, “Unfortunately, yes,”

He cleared his throat, “You mentioned before that you worked here?”

“Yes,” I gestured to my still running car, “This is my usual spot.”

“Alright, we just didn’t want to disturb the other people due to so much attention.”

I was reminded of something, “Speaking of that, why is there so much attention anyways?”

“You didn’t hear? Some idol’s apparently moving into town. Paparazzi’s going nuts”

“Huh.” 

_She never told me the girl was an idol!_ I thought to myself.

I made my way towards the tofu shop, and looked back at him, “Well, thanks for everything, Dojima-san, wasn’t it?”

He nodded, “Don’t mention it”

I somehow managed to shove my way past the crowd and into the tofu shop, where I was greeted with a familiar face: the old woman who ran the tofu shop.

“Ah, Takari-kun. Welcome my boy.”

I smiled back at her, because who wouldn’t? 

“Business has been slow lately, everyone hasn’t come for tofu, they only want to see Rise.”

 _Rise._ I thought. _That must be the new girl_.

“What’s so special about her?” I asked genuinely, “I heard that she was an idol, but that’s pretty much it.”

“Grandma!” I heard a feminine voice call out from the back room, “Do we have any more tof-”

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me. She seemed like she didn’t want to be seen here despite everyone knowing she was here, and looked like a deer in front of headlights when someone else saw her. There was an awkward silence between us; I wasn’t saying anything because of her strange behaviour, and she wasn’t saying anything because… I don’t know?

Fortunately, The old lady broke the silence, “Ah, Rise dear. This is that delivery boy I was talking about. Go on, introduce yourself.”

I held out my hand, “Hello. I’m Takari Aragaki.”

She was greeted with a boy who was moderately taller than the two women before him, who were around the same height. I was still in my school uniform, however my blazer was a little thicker, and I was wearing a full-on tie, giving the illusion that I was in a suit. I was the only one who didn’t swap into a summer uniform, as the heat had never really bothered me. It’s not like I was the only one violating the dress code; I saw many kids in my class forget to switch to summer clothing. I had messy, wavy, jet-black hair that went well with my outfit. A pair of sunglasses were perched on top of my head, however I never saw the need to put them on. I wore long, black sweatpants with large pockets in case my hands needed somewhere to go, but I still kept some things in there from time to time.

The girl took my outstretched hand, and introduced herself, “Hi. I’m Rise Kujikawa.”

The girl who I was shaking hands with looked to be a couple years younger than me. I could see how she would be an idol; long, wavy, brown hair wrapped up in two loops, extending down to her shoulders despite being in pigtails. She was wearing a white outfit, which I assumed was because of her job.

It was funny, Mrs. Kujikawa never required me to wear a specific uniform, but that might have been because I was delivering them, not making them. It might have also been that she liked my uniform and wanted customers to be presented with a somewhat formal looking deliverer. Either way, I was fine with it.

I let go of her hand, and walked over to the counter, “So, any new orders yet?”

“We had to put up a sign that said we were out of tofu.” Mrs. Kujikawa said, “There were too many people crowded around the shop. It was interfering with business.”

I turned to the younger girl, “Sounds like the entire town’s going crazy for you. Wonder why…”

“I guess,” she said, “I’m kind of surprised that you didn’t freak out when you saw me. That’s why I…”

I raised an eyebrow, “Why would I freak out over you?”

“You know, because I’m… _Risette?_ ”

“Who?”

That seemed to genuinely startle her, “You don’t know me? Famous idol, starred in many movies, hosted live concerts…?”

I made a poker face, “Doesn’t ring a bell.”

“...you seriously don’t know who I am?”

“Nope.” I walked over to one of the seats and sat down, “So no tofu, huh? You think we could still deliver?”

“Oh, good idea Takari-kun.” Mrs. Kujikawa spoke up, “That might clear out the crowd. Would you be a dear and go tell them that?”

“Sure thing.”

I stood up and made my way to the door.

“Oh, one last thing.” Rise suddenly said.

I turned to her, “What’s up?”

“Could you, maybe… not tell anyone I was here.”

I raised my chin, “Ah. I forgot about paparazzi. Alright, I won’t tell anyone.”

As soon as I walked out, I got bombarded with questions.

“Did you see Risette? Was she in there? What did she look like?”

Before anyone could say anything else, I took a deep breath.

“She’s not here, it’s just the old lady.”

I saw a couple of faces pout.

“We’re not serving tofu anymore, however, delivery is still available. Please state your name, order, and address, and it will be delivered to you within thirty to sixty minutes.”

No one seemed to want to actually buy tofu, so they all slowly cleared out. I shrugged.

_Since no one's ordering anytime soon, I might as well pick up gas while I wait. Keeping that engine idle’s probably lost me some gas at this point._

As I walked towards my car, I heard a whiny, teenage voice call out.

“A rumor!? What, she’s not here!? Seriously!?”

I turned to the noise and was greeted with three teenagers. The speaker was a boy with brown hair in a Yasogami school uniform. A pair of headphones were looped around his neck, and he seemed greatly distressed at the “fact” that Risette was not here. Next to the brown-haired boy was a silver-haired boy with a bowl cut that somehow managed to look good despite the odd color. On the other side of the brown-haired boy was a much larger boy who looked like a punk. It wasn’t an insult; his sleeveless shirt which showed off his muscles had a skull plastered onto it, he had blond, struck back hair, he had another skull tattooed onto his arm, he had a scar above his right eyebrow, and he had multiple earrings. He stuck out like a sore thumb.

Other than those observations, I paid no mind to their business; none of it was my concern what others thought. I climbed into my ride and shifted the car into gear. The punk seemed to be laughing at the brown-haired boy for whatever reason. As they continued to talk, I put my foot on the accelerator, and the car moved up the street. It was a 30-second drive from here to the gas station, but right as the tofu shop faded out of my eyesight, I took note of the three boys entering the tofu shop despite the sign saying that we were out of tofu. I was skeptical but quickly forgot about it.

I pulled into the gas station and proceeded to fill up my tank. A gas station attendant walks up to me, probably bored of waiting around all day.

“Some weather, huh?”

I glanced up at the sky; it looked like it could rain at any second. 

“Yeah. Lately, it’s been raining fairly often. Dunno why…”

The attendant then glanced at my car that I was filling up, “Hey, isn’t that the shop where that new idol’s staying at?”

“Hm?” I followed his gaze and found him reading the Marukyu Foods sticker I placed on my car.

“Yeah. I work there. Didn’t see her though. Must’ve been a rumor.”

“Hmm…” He seemed to know something I didn’t, “Speaking of rumors, have you ever heard about the Midnight Channel?”

“Midnight Channel? That’s new to me.”

“Well, they say if you stare into an unplugged TV at exactly midnight on a rainy night, a person shows up.”

I wasn’t normally one to believe rumors, however, I had heard stranger statements that ended up to be true, “A person? Who?”

The attendant shrugged, “Could be anyone.”

I looked up at the cloudy sky, “I might give it a shot tonight if the weather doesn’t hold up.”

I pulled the pump out of my car and put it back in its spot.

“Take care.” The attendant called out to me as I got back in my car.

 _What a strange guy,_ I thought as I drove back to the tofu shop just in time to see those teens from before exiting the shop. I climbed out of the car and walked past them into the shop. Rise was in the center of the shop, seemingly lost in thought.

“Yo, who were those guys outside?” I spoke up.

“They were just looking out for me.” The girl said innocently.

“Why would you need to be looked out for?”

“Apparently it has to do with those kidnappings that happened recently.” She responded, “They think I might be next.”

“Hmm…” Something didn’t add up here, “Whatever the case, be careful. You’re clearly very popular, so maybe they’re right.”

I walked over to the order stand where I saw two orders placed, and as the old lady finished making them, “Well, I’ve got a job to do, so I’ll catch you later.”

I took the tofu from Mrs. Kujikawa and left the shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Consider reading the notes at the top, it'll clear some things up


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to do SO much research for this section in the game from a no commentary playthrough, but overall I think I got the events at the correct times. I generally wanna keep my chapters relatively the same length at about 2,000 words per chapter, but it may be more or less. Also, slight disclaimer: I don't exactly know how to use honorifics correctly, so forgive me if I made any mistakes

As I pulled up to the tofu shop after my shift ended, I couldn’t help but notice a cop car parked outside the shop. I wondered if they were the same cops from before. As I walked in the shop, I was not only proven right but entered earshot of their conversation just long enough to catch one line from Dojima.

“How could high school kids who know less than we do beat us to the punch?”

I stepped forward, presenting myself, “Something happen here?”

“O-Oh, it’s nothing, uhh…” Adachi stammered.

Dojima cleared his throat, “It’s police matters. We’re just looking out for her, making sure she’s safe.”

_That’s what Rise said about those high schoolers earlier today._

“Well, it doesn’t involve me, so I won’t get in your way,” I said. I walked over to Mrs. Kujikawa, who gave me my paycheck for the night. As I walked out and got in my car, I couldn’t help but wonder about what happened today. I quickly forgot about it though, it clearly was out of my control. As I pulled up to my house, I could hear the TV being blasted at high volume, no doubt because of my dad. 

“Ugh, when will he ever learn?” I said as I took out my keys and opened the door. I was greeted with my dad sitting in his recliner watching politics at 75% volume with a bottle of beer in his hand. He didn’t even turn his head towards me.

“Hey. I picked up some soda while you were out. It’s in the fridge.”

His voice was scratchy, and he smelled slightly of tobacco. I took a can from the fridge and sat down on the couch.

“Turn the damn volume down,” I told him, “I could hear that shit before I walked through the door.”

I took the remote from him, lowered the volume by 50%, and switched to local news, which was talking about Rise Kujikawa’s move into Inaba. Me and my father took a swig from our drinks in unison as we watched the reporter give his thoughts about the situation. 

“Ever since Risette moved in earlier today, crowds have been swarming the tofu shop ever since, attempting to eat a glimpse at the young idol. Unfortunately, it was merely a rumor; the idol was not in the shop.”

“Hah. _I_ told them that.” I bragged.

My father raised an eyebrow at me, “You were there?”

“Oh yeah,” I responded, “Didn't even know who she was at first. I just hoped she wouldn’t get in the way of my job.”

He raised a second eyebrow, “She _was_ there?” He stayed silent for a minute, “She hot?”

“Oh, for god’s sake.”

“Alright, alright,” My dad held his hands up in defense, not wanting to instigate me, “But why did you lie to them?”

“Tch. Why _wouldn’t_ I? They were nearly blocking the door! I had to find some way to get rid of them.”

“Mmm, that makes sense…”

None of us spoke after that. We stayed like that for a while. Father and son, both drinking from their cans, watching TV. This was what my evenings were normally like. After a while, I got tired of watching the same news and headed upstairs, into my room. I was reminded of the Midnight Channel when I heard the sound of raindrops hitting the roof.

 _I should probably check that out, it’ll only take a minute or two_.

So, I unplugged the TV and waited for the clock to strike twelve. Once the hour had come, I stared into the TV.

At first, nothing happened. But then, I heard static, and the TV illuminated to life. My jaw unhinged slightly. That wasn’t supposed to actually work. But my thoughts of it working were overshadowed by what actually appeared on screen.

It was a gray and foggy background, with a mysterious and ominous intention. However, a figure slowly faded into the shot. It appeared to be a girl, a little younger than me, with long wavy ha-

 _Wait a minute,_ I thought, _This is_ **_Rise_** _!_

As I stared at the idol on the screen, she seemed to stare directly back at me, almost staring into my soul. The connection between our eyes lasted a moment longer, then the screen faded to black, with Rise’s staring eyes replaced with my own in the reflection of the TV.

I did not take my eyes off the TV screen.

 _What does this mean?_ I found myself asking over and over. Did this mean something? The only thing I knew about the Midnight Channel was that it showed people on it, but I never expected to _know_ the person. A part of me thought that this had to do with her being an idol, but I quickly shut that idea down; this was unrelated.

I eventually looked away from the screen, changed into a T-shirt and shorts, and went to sleep figuring I could make more sense of it tomorrow. It was no use trying to think when you’re fighting the urge to fall asleep. As I closed my eyes and drifted off, the last thing on my mind was what this all meant…

6/23:

The next day was like any other; I woke up, drove to school, finished homework between the end of my last class and the start of my shift, and drove to the tofu shop. Except once I got there, I was greeted with four familiar faces from yesterday and two new ones, both girls. One had short, bright hair, and was dressed in green, while the other had straight, long, black hair and was dressed in red. The four familiar faces I saw were the three strange boys from before and Adachi. The three boys were walking in front of the store as if they were looking for someone. Adachi was looking out the front door, also appearing to be searching for something. The two girls were talking amongst themselves. 

I stepped out of the car, “You guys need something?”

Adachi was the first person to address me, “Oh no, not you again…”

“Uhh, Adachi-san?” The brown-haired boy spoke up, “Who is this?”

I gestured to my car, “Delivery boy. Who’re you guys?”

“We’re uhh…” The brown-haired boy seemed at a loss for words. Fortunately for him, the silver-haired boy spoke up, “We’re looking for someone.”

“Oh really?” I said. I gestured to the young detective, “Is that why he’s here?”

“Uhh, yeah!” Adachi stammered, “It’s an investigation, police business. Shouldn’t concern you.”

“It doesn’t.” I turned back to the three teens, “What concerns me is that I’ve seen you three here ever since that girl moved in.”

The teens didn’t have time to respond, because the long-haired girl in red spoke up.

“Oh… look!”

The seven of us looked to where she was pointing, and we found a man with a camera up on the telephone pole trying to take pictures. He suddenly spotted us watching him, which caused him to lose his grip. He slid down the pole, jumped off, and ran in the opposite direction.

“Get back here!” The punk yelled.

The others ran after the cameraman and the punk, who was in hot pursuit of him. I just stared at them, completely bewildered. I had no idea what was going on, but it ended up working out in the end; at least they were away from the shop. I walked in, picked up the orders, and turned to Rise.

“What the hell were those guys doing?”

Rise looked over to me and simply shrugged. I shook my head in confusion. 

_I’ll figure it out later._

I walked out of the shop and proceeded to drive to my first address. As I passed a delivery truck and approached the intersection leading to the main road, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was those teens, _again_. This time, they were with Adachi, and they were staring at the cameraman from before. He was dangerously close to the main road and looked like he might get run over if he didn’t move soon.

And at that moment, with extremely quick reaction time and unbelievable decision association, I did what any normal person would do.

I slammed my hand on the horn.

The cameraman jumped away from the sound, turned towards it, and tried to figure out which car made the noise. This gave the teens a perfect opportunity to tackle him from behind. I watched in absolute awe as the teens proceeded to do the millionth thing that day that was so out of the ordinary. It was almost funny when you thought about it. Needless to say, I was slightly amused by their bizarre actions throughout the delivery shift. 

…

After it ended, I thankfully didn’t see anyone outside the tofu shop once I got back.

I walked in to find only the old lady inside; Rise had left.

“Where’s the girl?” I asked innocently.

“Oh, she went out for a bit. She’ll be back soon.”

I nodded. I then collected my pay, drove home, went up to my room, and thought about what happened before.

To recap, a bunch of people were outside the tofu shop yesterday because of the idol, including those two detectives, and those three kids. The detectives were probably there to help control the situation, and I assumed that the teens were there because they were fans. However, I was proven wrong when Rise said the teens told her they thought she was gonna be kidnapped next. And then there were the detectives last night. I overheard that the high schoolers had “beaten them to the punch.” That could only mean that they knew something the detectives, and I, didn’t. And then there was the matter of that guy they were chasing. He was clearly trying to get a peek at Risette, but why they were chasing him was beyond me. The last thing on my mind was when they were looking for Rise. One of the girls had caught me right as I pulled in to pick up another order, and asked me if I had seen Rise. I simply told her “No,” and went inside. Again, why they were looking for her was beyond me. If those teens had the right to be in front of the tofu shop all day, then why didn’t Rise have the right to take a walk for a few hours?

I sighed, my only other option was to check out the Midnight Channel, since I had nothing better to do, and it was raining again. The TV was still unplugged from before, and it was almost midnight. I sat down in front of the TV once again and waited for midnight.

Once again, the TV flickered to life, however this time, the image was much clearer. The background was of a purple room, with neon lights. I felt uneasy; if this was what I think it was, then…

Unfortunately, my suspicions were proven right; a girl in an extremely revealing bikini walked into frame, with a clear intention in her stance. But it wasn't any ordinary girl; this was the same girl that appeared on TV exactly 24 hours ago.

“Maru-Q! Push Risette! Good evening, good evening! I’m Rise Kujikawa!”

_Dear god…_

The camera zoomed in on her legs, “This spring, one young girl levels up to become a high school idol! Yayyyy!”

As she carried out her line, the camera slowly panned up from her legs to her face, allowing the audience a clear shot of almost all of her skin.

The camera suddenly switched to a side shot, “So today, I’m gonna celebrate by pushing the limits of Standards and Practices.”

_What the hell did I just get into?_

The camera changed again, this time focusing on her torso. She bent over, putting her hands on her knees so that she was looking at the camera, “Does everybody know what time it is? Showtime!”

My eyes were bloodshot, with the right one slightly twitching. My mouth was slightly open, bewildered at this rumor that actually turned out to be true, only for it to be… this.

“Show what, huh? Hmhmhm… everyth-“

I couldn’t handle it anymore, I shut off the TV. I actually feared I might have gotten dumber while watching that. I closed my eyes, supported myself on the TV, and took a couple of deep, long breaths, and reassessed what just happened.

I had just seen Rise(tte) in a striptease show. After so many people were worried about her being kidnapped, she ended up just stripping for horny guys on an off-air network. I didn’t even want to _think_ about what my dad would do if he found out about this, and I wasn’t worried about him scolding me. At least that solved the mystery of the midnight Channel; it was just a stripper show, and Rise was performing (live?) on it. I should have known she’d have something to do with this, she _was_ an idol after all.

I opened my eyes. I was wrong when I thought Rise’s appearance on the Midnight Channel was unrelated to her being an idol. I eventually decided to just head to bed, and try to stay away from Rise tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of happy with how this one turned out. Writing Takari's father was pretty comical, and Takari's reaction to Shadow Rise was priceless. However, I still feel like there's something off about my writing. Almost as if the story gets too boring at times... I promise it'll get more interesting in later chapters, it's just the introduction now. It's probably just me, though. Let me know if there are any issues or mistakes in my writing (let's face it, there probably are). See you next week!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work ain't exactly getting the most popular, but that's fine. It'll gain traction over time (hopefully). Anyways, this chapter was not only a little shorter in words, but also in what goes on. It's mostly just him speculating about what goes on, however, the second half will be pretty relevant later on.

6/24:

Fortunately, the next day I didn’t have to try that hard to avoid Rise; she didn’t seem to be in the shop. Unfortunately, her absence was replaced by the teens’ presence outside the shop. 

_ Jesus, what now? _

However, once they saw my car pull up, they perked up, and the silver-haired boy walked towards me. It seems that they were looking for  _ me. _

I stepped out, and walked towards the boy, “Can I help you?”

The boy looked at me with a poker face before responding, “You work here, right?”

He spoke calmly, without much tone in his voice. As for the question, I don’t know how that had not been apparent.

“Yeah, so?”

“Have you seen Rise?”

I scoffed, “Yeah, barely though. Why?” There was no reason to lie about her appearance in Inaba now.

“No reason,” The brown-haired boy cut in. I hadn’t even noticed him walk up to us, “We just wanted to know about her.”

“Oh, so that’s why I saw you outside the tofu shop for three days in a row.” I said, a little annoyed.

“W-Well, that’s…”

“From the time that you’ve seen her, what was she like?” The silver-haired boy interrupted him.

“I don’t know. Quiet, respectful, exactly how an ordinary teenage girl would act.” These people were strange, “However, she  _ was _ surprised when I didn’t realize she was Risette.”

The silver-haired boy looked up, “She was surprised?”

“Yeah. What’s it to you?” I said.

“W...We just wanted to know.” The brown-haired boy stuttered.

“Well, if that’s all, I got a job to do.” I walked past them, and entered the tofu shop, and started my shift.

For the next three days, I saw a single sign of neither Rise nor the strange teenagers that wanted to know about her. Life seemed to return to the way things went before Rise showed up.

And that’s exactly why Mrs. Kujikawa was freaking out. 

“Oh, poor Rise. All alone out there, with no idea where she is. I hope she’s alright.”

“I do too Mrs. Kujikawa.”

And that’s all I ever spoke of the matter. Judging from what I saw on the Midnight Channel, I had a slight suspicion of what’s going on: Rise didn’t get lost or kidnapped. She left on her own accord. Her move to Inaba was probably a mere cover-up when in reality she was in the adult industry. That’s why she was starring as a stripper despite her being a mere idol. And that’s also why she enjoyed being a stripper rather than calling out in terror due to being kidnapped. However, then again, she did mention how those boys warned her about the kidnappings, and the detectives were about to warn her, so it might have actually been a kidnapping. But that only created more unanswerable questions, so I decided I'd look into the situation once she got back. All I knew now was that there are many questions that are still unanswered…

6/27

On the fourth day of Rise’s disappearance into that strip joint, I was driving back to the tofu shop after my shift had ended. Rise had slipped my mind, and the only thing I was thinking about was when I could afford a new engine. The reason I never turned the damn car off was that every time I wanted to start the thing I had to slam a wrench on the hood. If I wanted a new engine, I estimated it would cost me around 100,000 yen. I was trying to spend as little as possible, and adding up all of my paychecks from Mrs. Kujikawa. Just then, I spotted that silver-haired boy from before walking down the street. 

_ Hmph, haven’t seen him in a while. _

As I got closer, I noticed that he wasn’t alone. On his shoulder, he was supporting a half-conscious, worn out-

I slammed my foot on the brakes. The car came to a screeching halt as the tires encountered such friction with the road. Once the car came to a complete stop, I got out, and ran over to them.

“What the hell!? How’d you find her!?”

The boy seemed very startled at my sudden appearance, as did the girl. She had to squint in order to see me.

“Takari-kun?”

She sounded faint. Very faint. I grabbed her other arm, and slung it over my shoulder, “You don’t look too good. Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

I carried her over to my car where I laid her down across the backseat. I looked over to the boy, “You should probably come too.”

He nodded and took shotgun. I climbed behind the wheel and continued my drive.

The both of us were silent for some time. How did they not only know that Rise would be gone next but also manage to find her? And why is she asleep in the back of my car? I assumed that she must have gotten very sick, and thus barely had the energy to- she’s drooling on my seat...

I sighed, this silence was getting nowhere.

“So, where’d you find her?” I finally asked while driving.

The boy took his time responding, “I… found her conked out on the roof of Junes. When she woke up, she didn’t remember much.”

“You just… found her there?”

He didn’t say anything. A brief moment of awkward silence followed. Eventually, I remembered something, “How did you know?”

He seemed shaken by this, “What?”

“I said, how did you know?” I repeated, “How did you know she would be the next target?”

He didn’t say anything, only looked at me in confusion. 

_ I suppose I might as well explain to him. _

“On the day that Rise moved into the tofu shop, you and two other kids went into the shop to tell her that she might be the one kidnapped next.”

“Hmm, so she told you about that.” The boy muttered.

“Not only that, but you managed to beat a couple of detectives to the case, who  _ also _ thought she would be kidnapped.” I continued, “Now, judging that two parties suspected Rise of being kidnapped, her recent disappearance for four entire days was, no doubt, a kidnapping.”

The boy gave me a sidelong look, gesturing for me to go on.

I did not disappoint, “I think the detectives suspected she might get kidnapped based on evidence. However, three high schoolers don’t exactly have that kind of info. So, in order for them to predict something like that, they must know something the cops don’t…”

I made a sharp left turn, rustling Rise slightly.

“But what kind of information would be available to a group of teens and not the police force?  _ That’s _ what I want to know…”

He was silent. He clearly didn’t know what to say.

I smirked, “Hmph. And here I was thinking that she ran away to a strip club-”

“How do you know about that!?”

I turned to him, with a slight grin on my face, “Because I saw it on TV. And judging by your reaction, you did too.”

He was clearly in distress. Something more was going on here, I could feel it.

“Now, I trust you will not find it far-fetched that I, unfortunately, do  _ not _ believe the fact that you simply found her unconscious on the roof of Junes. I feel like that little strip joint is related, but I don’t quite know what it has to do with it. I don’t know why Rise had been performing on the show willingly if she had been kidnapped, and I don’t know how or where you found her.”

I pulled up to the tofu shop, “All I know is that you and those other kids are involved. Somehow...”

I stepped out of the car and picked up Rise. 

“Open the door,” I commanded the boy. My voice was dark, and quiet, in the same tone of voice from our earlier discussion. Yu hurried over to the door of the tofu shop, and opened it.

My demeanor changed instantly, “Oi! Mrs. Kujikawa! I found her!”

“You did!?” The old lady came rushing out of the store with surprising speed despite her age, “Oh my goodness! Thank goodness you’re okay my dearest Rise.”

She took the surprisingly light girl from my arms and proceeded to thank me profusely.

“Oh, thank you so much for finding my dearest Rise. Er, where did you find her?”

I shrugged and gestured to the silver-haired boy, “Ask him, he found her, not me. I just gave them a ride.”

She then proceeded to thank the hell out of the boy before going back into the tofu shop to put Rise in her room. Once she came back down, she told me some surprising news.

“We’ll close up shop early today. She needs rest. Here, take a bonus for your work Takari. You earned it.”

“Aw, that’s alright, you don’t have to-”

But she was already handing me the extra 1500 yen, “Tomorrow, I’ll close the tofu shop. Please don’t come to work tomorrow honey, you’ve been working so hard lately.”

I nodded and walked back to my car. I took one last dark look at the silver-haired boy, who squirmed slightly.

“By the way, I didn’t catch your name,” I said coldly.

“O-Oh, right.” He responded, “I’m Yu Narukami. I think she called you Takari?”

“She did. Takari Aragaki.”

I climbed in my car and rolled down the window.

“See you around… Yu.”

I drove off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apart from it feeling slightly shorter than the previous two chapters, I feel like this chapter was pretty good. I love writing tense scenes in the stories, and the car scene was slightly inspired by the convo that the team and Naoto had about the murders being a game. Also, next chapter may or may not jump ahead a month. There was literally nothing going on at the time that involved Takari, and I didn't feel like writing filler (that comes in Chapter 5 but shh).


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blueberry Detective time! As well as some surprising news about the "killer", and a closer look at Takari's life at home. Chapter's a little shorter this time, and I had to add scenes at the beginning and the end. Overall, not bad in my opinion.

6/28:

Yu walked out the elevator of Junes Food Court, looking somewhat troubled. Approximately 20 hours had passed since he had brought Rise home, and in those 20 hours, he had not had a single thought that was unrelated to what had happened in the car ride. That boy had unraveled half of their case right before his ears in less than five minutes. If others were to get involved in what they were doing… things would get complicated. 

As he walked up to his friends sitting at the counter, they all greeted him with relative respect.

“Yo,” Kanji called out.

“How ya been, partner?” Yosuke greeted him cheerfully.

Yukiko saw the look on his face, “Is there something wrong, Yu-kun?”

Yu sighed, “We have a problem.”

“...What kind of problem?” Chie asked.

“A… just listen,” Yu said.

He sat down on one of the plastic chairs and put his forearms on his legs.

“What is it?” Yukiko said politely.

Yu looked down, “Someone’s onto us.”

Everyone’s face grew dark. The only person who had even a slight clue of what they were up to was that boy-detective, and he barely knew anything. No one said anything for a minute until Kanji broke the ice.

“Who?”

“That delivery boy we saw earlier,” Yu responded coldly.

Again, a long silence filled the room. The one to replace it with a question this time was Yosuke.

“How much does he know?”

“Not a lot, but he knows we’re involved,” Yu said, “He knows that we knew Rise would be the next target, and he knows about the Midnight Channel. He doesn’t know that the people who appear on there are the next targets, however.”

“Ugh, dammit,” Kanji expressed his frustration, “I thought we covered our tracks so well.”

“He was just in the right places at the right times I guess,” Chie interjected.

“Will we have to worry about him interfering with the investigation?” Yukiko asked.

“We have to wait for the next victim for that answer.” Yu said, “He doesn’t know how we save the victims, but he knew I was lying when I told her I found her on the roof of Junes.”

“You know, now that I think about it…” Yosuke started, “He swings by the tofu shop quite often. He might catch Rise, and question _her_.”

“I doubt it,” Chie assured him, “He seems like a guy who’s pretty keen on his job. Maybe he’ll be too busy to question her.”

“The old lady decided to close up shop for today so they could go to the police.” Yu said, to the group’s dismay, “The possibility is very real that he might question her, however, I doubt she would give him any more hints. She doesn’t remember much.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Chie said, “So what should we do about him?”

“For now, stay away from him,” Yu advised them, “He mainly gets suspicious whenever _we_ hang out in front of the tofu shop, so let’s just wait until Rise gets better.”

The group nodded.

“So, what should we do today?” Chie asked.

“I was thinking we could swing by Aiya’s.” Kanji said, “I haven’t eaten all day.”

“Same.” Yosuke agreed, “I could really go for some…”

...

As I sat in the quiet library twirling my pen on my fingers, I didn’t quite know what to do. I didn’t have work today, and all of my homework was done. I considered going for a drive, but this town was too empty, there was hardly anywhere to drive _to._

 _I suppose I could swing by Okina and grab a cup of coffee._ I thought to myself. _I hear they make really good cups._

I stood up, walked out of the library, exited the school, and made my way over to my car, which was parked a couple blocks down. As I was walking, I heard a quiet, boyish voice addressing me.

“Excuse me, may I have a word?”

I turned around. Staring me in the face was a young boy with blue hair, with a matching blue cap, dressed in a tie. He looked to be quite younger than me, considering I was eleven inches taller than him.

As for what he wanted from me, I had nothing better to do today anyway, “Sure. What do you need?”

“I’d like to ask you some questions about the recent kidnappings currently taking place within Inaba.” The boy inquired. Judging from his outfit and demeanor, I assumed he was a young detective. He might know something I didn’t about all this… If this went well, maybe I could learn something more about Rise’s disappearance.

I shrugged, “Eh. I got time.”

“Your cooperation is much appreciated,” he said.

We walked over to the side of the walkway where our conversation could be held without disrupting anyone.

“So, what about the kidnappings?” I asked.

The boy did not waste time, “I heard that you were acquaintances with one of the victims of the kidnapping, correct?”

“You mean Rise?” I responded, “Kind of, yeah. Barely even saw her though.”

“Were you in any way involved with her disappearance?”

“Tch, no.” I said, “Like I said, barely knew the girl. However…”

“...’However’?”

“I _was_ involved with her _re_ appearance,” I told him, “I saw some boy carrying her on the side of the road, so I gave them both a ride.”

“Hmm… I see. What did the boy say?”

“He said he found the girl unconscious on the roof of Junes.” I continued, “Didn’t ask much else though.”

 _There’s no need for him to know about the Midnight Channel,_ I decided internally, _He probably wouldn’t believe me._

“Ah, I see…” the boy detective said, “Oh, and one last thing...”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Do you, by any chance, know who this boy was, perhaps?”

“Yeah. The kid had silver hair, in a bowl cut. Name’s Yu Narukami.”

“I see. Thank you for your time.”

The blue-haired detective began to walk away, but I had one last thing to say.

“That boy, Narukami.”

The detective stopped but did not turn around to face me.

“He was in front of the tofu shop for quite sometime before the girl was kidnapped. But he wasn’t alone. There were others outside the shop with him.” I turned towards him, "They told her to be careful, and that she was at risk."

“Are you suggesting that they could have known about the kidnappings before they had happened?”

I turned away from him, “I’m not suggesting anything. I’m simply telling you what happened.”

“I see…” He sounded off, “Very well, if that is all, then I shall go now.”

The detective walked off, but this time I did not stop him.

_Something odd’s going on in this town. I doubt I’ll get any more information at this point. I had better wait until more details arise._

And so wait I did. For almost 2 weeks.

7/11:

I walked down the small walkway of the Samegawa Flood Plain, with nothing in particular on my mind. I had gone out on a walk just to clear my head, as the sun was slowly setting. I found that doing this had helped me relax quite a bit. The funny thing was that I didn’t even know I was so tense until I went out of my way to just clear my head. 

My moment of peaceful bliss was interrupted by a quiet, boyish voice.

“Hello.”

I turned around to meet that strange boy detective again.

“You may not remember me, but I believe we spoke regarding the recent events within Inaba some time ago.”

“I remember,” I told him simply.

“Then you remember how you had informed me of Narukami’s involvement in the case?”

I nodded, waiting patiently for him to get to the point.

“Well, I felt it was only fair to inform you of something regarding the case, considering you had given me a formidably large lead.”

“Glad to be of some assistance.” I said formally, “But, you really shouldn’t.”

“Please. At least hear what I have to say.”

I sighed, “Alright…”

The boy cleared his throat, “You are aware of the death of Kinshiro Morooka, correct?”

“Yeah.” I said. I had known about his death beforehand, and I didn’t know what to think of it. On one hand, he was an asshole, but on the other hand, I didn’t have his classes anymore. I didn’t know that he was related to the kidnappings until just now, so I asked about that.

“You think he was killed by the same guy who kidnapped those kids?”

“I have ample evidence proving that to be true,” he explained, “You see, the culprit has already turned himself in. His name is Mitsuo Kubo.”

_Wait, that wasn’t..._

**“Mitsuo!?”**

He raised an eyebrow, “You are familiar with him?”

“ _Yeah_ I know him!” I exclaimed, “I used to hang out with that guy!”

“You have?” He sounded intrigued.

I sighed; I had a feeling that kid would get into trouble some day, but I never expected _this._

“So, Mitsuo’s the kidnapper-slash-killer, huh?”

“Yes. It is as I said.”

I turned away, not sure how to deal with this. My former friend, one who I had not known for very long but still had known, was a killer. I always knew something was… wrong with that kid, but I never thought much of it. Now though… It felt odd to have once been friends with a killer. 

“So… is that all?” I asked

“Yes,” he said, “I just wanted to inform you of that, since you had informed me of those high schoolers’ involvement in the case.”

“Alright then. I’ll be on my way.”

I walked away from the detective and went home.

Nothing happened again after that for about two weeks...

7/26:

“Ugh... you all think you can see me? You all think you know everything about me? Heh... then try and catch me.”

As the TV screen faded to black, I couldn’t help but wonder: what the hell was going on? At first, I thought this Midnight Channel was… something only having to do with Rise, but now the supposed killer was on the show? It completely flipped everything I had previously thought of the Midnight Channel on its head. I first thought that the people on the show were completely random, but there’s no way _this_ could be a coincidence! The odds of Mitsuo being “randomly” chosen to be shown on television two weeks after he turned himself in were very slim.

I still had no idea what the Midnight Channel was, but I had a feeling I was about to learn a lot more about it, whether i wanted to or not…

7/27:

I step into the warm atmosphere of my home as the sun calmly set, expecting to find my father crashed on the couch watching television, like always.

Unfortunately, I saw him passed out on the floor.

I didn’t need to walk further towards him to know that he smelled strongly of alcohol. Why had he been drinking at home instead of at the bar? And he normally goes to the bar at 1 in the morning, not get blackout drunk at home at 7:30.

I sighed; there was no way in hell I was sleeping under this roof with _him._

I turned around and walked directly out the door.

As I speed-walked towards my car in frustration, I wondered where exactly I could go. My first thought was at the tofu shop, but I felt like that would be a little awkward. Even though I knew Mrs. Kujikawa would tell me I was more than welcome to stay (she was like the mother I never had), I still felt a little skeptical, so I considered a couple backups.

I thought about booking a room at an inn, like the Amagi one, but I didn’t wanna spend money just because of my alcoholic father. 

My last thought was to go into town, and see if my friends from before were still there, even all these months later. Then, maybe I could…

I shook my head, _I’d rather sleep at home than hang with them ever again…_

I was already in the car and driving at this point, and found myself taking the route to school on instinct. I yanked the wheel towards a left turn, and made my decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some odd reason, this chapter took me FOREVER to write. At least, that's what it felt like. Chapters 5 and 6 are done, however once I post 7 or 8, I may need to bump up the rating from Teens to Mature. No, it's not because of sexual themes, so if you're looking for that, then I kindly advise you to take your business elsewhere. Anyone else who's looking for a normal story, I hope this does not disappoint.  
> Edit: Oh my god, I just read this and found out how BORING it was. Good thing I have better plans for later on in this series (It should pick up in interest near the end of summer). Next chapter will work on the Rise/OC tag I have up top, cuz I feel some people are being drawn away because there's no romance yet. Romance will merely be an aspect of this fic. it will contribute to the plot, but don't expect me to focus on it in every chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was one of my favorites because even though it's kinda filler, it sheds light onto Takari's past, and shows more of his character to the audience. Writing this kid feels amazing, and I can't wait for the later scenes I have with him in it.

I stopped in front of the tofu shop, slightly cautious, but not nervous enough to make me chicken out. I walked up to the door over an hour after my shift had ended, and knocked on the door.

Fortunately, the old lady answered the door, and she seemed more than happy about my appearance. 

“Ah, Takari my dear boy. Come in, come in. Take a seat.”

I walked into the shop and into the back room, where a small living room was set up. I hunkered down on the couch, while Mrs. Kujikawa sat on the armchair. She seemed cheerful, which was nice.

“So, what brings you here? Can I make you some tofu?”

“Oh, n-no Mrs. Kujikawa, that’s fine.” I insisted, “I came because I can’t exactly stay at my house, so I was wondering if I could...”

“Oh, you wanted to stay the night?” she predicted, “You’re more than welcome to.”

“Thanks, but… is Rise fine with it? I would feel a little awkward if-”

“Oh, I’m sure she’ll be fine with it,” Mrs. Kujikawa assured me, “We don’t often have guests, so this is quite the occasion to us.”

She craned her neck towards the stairs.

“Rise dear? We have a guest.”

A small moment of silence made me question briefly whether or not Rise was in the house currently. A couple of seconds later, I heard a soft voice.

“...whaaat?”

“I said, dear, we have a guest.” Mrs. Kujikawa repeated, “He’ll be staying for the night.”

Rise came down in a pink polka-dotted nightgown. I assumed her grandmother made her go to bed quite early, considering she was in her sleeping clothing at 8:15. She seemed quite surprised at my appearance.

“Oh, Takari-senpai! What brings you here?”

Despite my hatred of being called Senpai, I took accurate note of her sudden cheerful attitude. When she had first shown up, she was quiet, polite, and didn’t talk much. Now, she talks much more freely, as if she’s got nothing to hide.

_It’s nice to see that she’s becoming more comfortable in this town only a month after she moved._

“Takari has come to stay the night.” Mrs. Kujikawa said.

She suddenly turned to me, “Oh, that’s right! You must be starving. Here, I’ll go make dinner.”

She stood up and walked into the kitchen, leaving Rise and I alone.

“So, any specific reason for you to sleep over tonight?” Rise said, sitting down in her grandmother’s seat.

“Tch.” I relayed, “I walked in on my father passed out on the floor.”

Rise raised her eyebrows, “Oh god. Was he alright? Did you try and wake him up?”

“Please. I could smell the alcohol from the door.”

Rise’s face changed drastically once she realized what I was talking about, “Oh… so it’s one of _those_ houses…”

I stretched out on the couch, “Yep. Ain’t got a mom either, so it’s sorta like one of “those” families.”

Rise looked a little uncomfortable, “Uhh… I feel like this is a little rude, but-”

“What happened to my mom?” I asked.

She looked at me as if I had just read her mind, “W-Well, what was she like?”

I clicked my tongue, “Good question. I was wondering the same thing myself.”

“O-Oh, so she left before you remembered her?”

“Ugh, she left before I could even crawl.” I dismissed.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have told her that, because now she just looked depressed. So much for not having anything to hide…

“Oh my god… I’m so sorry.”

“Eh, don’t be.” I reassured her, “It’s not your fault. Besides, that was a while ago. I’ve told myself that this is how the rest of my time living at that house was gonna be like. Just an alcoholic father and a non-existent mother…”

I laid down on the couch, neither of us saying anything for a while. The only sound that disturbed us was Mrs. Kujikawa’s cooking.

I eventually spoke up, “You know those kids in movies who’ve lost a mother early on and always thought they were such a blessing?”

Rise turned to me, intrigued.

“I always wanted a relationship with my mother like that. Even though I had never even heard her voice, or even seen her for that matter, I still wish that I thought of her as a perfect figure like those children in those stories, and not what she really is.”

I chuckled, “Guess that’s what I get for uncovering the truth…”

She turned her body towards me, “What do you know about the truth?”

“What do I know?” I said, with the slightest hint of irritation in my voice, “I know that she only loved my father for one night, only coming back eight and a half months later because of the baby, my father barely recognizing her, she somehow managing to drag him into the hospital to see me for the first time, and then running out-of-state 2 weeks later because she was afraid my father would do the same.”

Rise was pale after my little rant, “I…”

“Don’t know what to say?” I said calmly.

Rise tried to say something, but nothing came out.

“Heh. Most people reacted the same way when I told them.”

Rise finally said something, “Let’s… talk about something else.”

I smiled, “Sure.”

We talked about many things: school, how I could drive while still being in high school, future plans, tofu, among other topics until finally, the dinner was ready.

I had tried the tofu before, but I had never really tried it once it was fresh out of the oven. It tasted surprisingly good, thankfully. Much better than the crap I served to 30 people a day. There’s a certain magic to a dinner table, where everyone’s quiet and completely focusing on the food. That’s when the cook knows that they did the job right.

And Mrs. Kujikawa certainly _did_ do the job right.

After dinner, Rise and I stayed downstairs, while Mrs. Kujikawa headed up to bed. She advised Rise to do the same, who instead stayed up a little longer.

I had been waiting for her to go upstairs this entire time…

“So, a while ago you mysteriously disappeared, right?” I said.

Rise looked over to me, confused, “Huh? Oh, yeah, right.”

She cleared her throat, “What about it?”

“I’m just looking out for you.” I responded warmly, “I felt as if Mrs. Kujikawa would grow uncomfortable at my mention of the topic, and this is the first time we’re alone.”

“Oh… I see.”

 _Should I not have mentioned the fact that we’re alone now?_ I wondered. _Nah, it’s probably fine. Besides, I shouldn’t be worrying about that when we could be dealing with a kidnapping._

“Well, in that case, it doesn’t sound too weird.” she said, as if it _was_ weird before I cleared that up, “I still don’t remember much, though…”

I raised an eyebrow, “Oh really?”

Rise looked at me, “Yeah. All I remember was a bunch of pink and purple lights, but it’s really fuzzy. And then, I heard voices and woke up in Senpai’s arms. And then you showed up, and...”

 _Hmm… purple lights?_ I thought. _Maybe she really_ doesn’t _remember what happened. If she did, she would probably steer clear from anything even remotely relating to that topic. And from how faint she sounded when I gave them a ride, it wouldn’t be too odd if she wouldn’t remember…_

“I’m sorry… that must have been scary for you.”

Rise shrugged, “It was a while ago, but you’re right. It was pretty scary.”

“ ‘A while ago’? That’s _my_ line.”

Rise let out a couple giggles. It was nice to make light of a dark matter, but you needed to learn how to properly do it, or else people will think you’re a creep.

I laid my head back, “Well, looks like you won’t have to worry about that ever happening again. I hear the killer’s been arrested.”

Unfortunately, that didn’t exactly work, “I dunno about that though. I heard from a detective that he went missing shortly after.”

“ _Missing?_ ” I said nervously, “What happened?”

“I don’t know, we didn’t hear much.”

“Hmm…” I wondered aloud, trying to think, “Err, what exactly did this detective look like?”

She shrugged again, “Loose tie, black, messy hair, lousy suit. Why do you ask?”

I had originally asked because I thought that blue-haired detective told her, but after hearing the description, I eventually realized who it was.

“God… _that_ guy, huh?”

“You know him?”

“Oh, I know Adachi alright.” I shared, “He was outside the shop annoying me the day you moved in. Even his partner called him a dumbass.”

Rise giggled again at my description of the wimpy detective.

“Rise dear?” A voice called from upstairs, “Are you coming up?”

She looked towards the sound, “Sure, Grandma!”

She got up and went up the stairs. Seeing as I had no one to talk to anymore, I set up my bed on the pullout couch, changed into my T-shirt and shorts, and went to sleep.

7/28:

“What the hell is your problem?”

I was standing in my living room, clear irritation in my voice, which was directed at my father. I had just gotten home, at around 3:00, having taken a day off to confront my father about last night.

“What? I can’t get drunk at home all of a sudden?” he defended.

“I’m fine with you getting drunk. What I’m not fine with is you passed out _on the floor reeking badly of whiskey!”_

“Geez, sor-ry.” My dad said this as if it was a small matter, “I took a couple bottles home, what was I supposed to do, let them go bad?”

“Dad, each bottle is nearly thirty ounces!”

“So what? I can get drunk when I want to.”

“Yeah, you can get drunk. **In your room! Or at a bar!** ”

“Kid, when you’ll come to be my age, you’ll drink wherever the hell you want, regardless of what your son says.”

“Tch, of course I won’t.” I snapped, “I’ll actually have a functioning family, and a healthy rate of alcohol consumption.”

My dad seemed slightly offended by this, “Ay, come on. You know I can’t help it.”

I sighed, “Yes, I know you can’t help it.”

I turned towards the door.

“Where you goin’?”

“Out.” I said, “Don’t expect to see me come home.”

“You staying over at someone’s _again_?”

“ _No._ ” I taunted, “I never said anything about not coming home. I’ll be back once you’re gone.”

I walked out.

…

I found myself at the Flood Plain once again, just taking a "lovely stroll". I was still reliving the conversation I had with my father about his alcohol problems, but eventually I decided I had to forget about it. I tried to let my mind wander, and eventually settled onto the topic of that killer who had gone missing. Wasn’t he the one who was supposed to make people go missing in the first place? If that was the case, then why was he himself missing? And why did he appear on the Midnight Channel?

I stopped dead in my tracks. The Midnight Channel… may have not been useless after all. The Midnight Channel had shown Rise on that striptease show, and she immediately went missing the next day. Now, it showed Mitsuo on the channel, and now he was missing too…

If the pattern was correct, then that could only mean that the people who get shown on the Midnight Channel are-

“Oh, Senpai! Nice to see you around here!”

I jolted out of my trance and turned towards the sound. I was faced with approximately one Rise Kujikawa, who appeared to be skipping over to me. I didn’t know children over 12 years old even _did_ that anymore. 

“Please don’t call me Sen-” I was interrupted.

“That sleepover we had was fun, let’s do it again!”

I chuckled, “Glad to know I’m welcome back in case anything goes wrong at home.”

“Oh, no I meant like if you wanted to come over!” She said playfully.

I raised an eyebrow, “Why would I want to sleep over if I could just sleep at home?”

Rise giggled again, not an unpleasant sound, but one in which I predict I would have to get used to over time, “No reason, just for fun.”

“Hmm… I might swing by every once in a while. It’s not like life’s any better sleeping at home than at the tofu shop.”

She smiled, “Good.”

She turned to me, “So, about that missing killer you mentioned earlier. I heard that you used to know the guy.”

I don’t remember ever telling her that, “Yeah, I knew him. It surprised me when I found out he was the killer, I didn’t think he had the guts to do something like that…”

“Oh really?” She stepped closer, “What was he like?”

“Eh, nothing special.” I said, “Just attention-seeking mostly. Kinda desperate and obsessed with it. But… I guess he finally snapped.”

“Hmm… attention-seeking?”

“Yeah. Always wanted to be important in the world, even though he wasn’t.”

“Hmm… I guess it all adds up. Now let’s stop talking about something so dark!”

She skipped on ahead of me, and turned her neck towards me, “I’m gonna get some food. Wanna come?”

“You sure have taken a liking to me, haven’t you?”

“What can I say? You’re just a nice guy to talk to. Now are you coming or what?”

I chuckled, “Sure, I’ll come. About time since I ate with someone.”

“Great! Now, follow me, I know the best place near our shop. It’s called Aiya’s.”

“What, that place?” I asked, “I always just blew by the place, so I never really ate there before.”

“Come on, I’ll show you. Their ramen is _super good!_ ”

“Now, I’ve tried some damn good ramen in the past, it’s gonna be real hard to top that.”

“Oh really?” she taunted, “Wait until you’ve finished your third bowl!”

“You’re on!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I've been thinking; I normally read through my chapters in like 2-5 minutes, even though they take about triple the amount of time to write. So, I was wondering if I should bump up my chapter length from 2,000 words per chapter to 5,000 words per chapter. I would have to include 'some' filler, but hopefully I would write fast enough so that I could get it out by the weekend. Also, I fully plan on finishing this fanfic, and I'm taking that burden very seriously, cuz I frickin' HATE it whenever I find a really good fanfic only to realize they never finished it. So, while it may be a while, this will get done. Expect some delays, but do NOT expect this to die.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that tense scene between Yu and Takari in Chapter 3? Yeah, I made a second one. This time, it takes up a lot more of the chapter, and is better developed in my opinion. This chapter will be one of the last Teen and Up rated chapters. I don't know if I should make Chapter 7 Mature, but I'm definitely making Chapter 8 Mature. Speaking of which, I plan to make this story dark. It will have its light hearted moments, like the King's Game (which I plan to expand on), and the Beauty Pageant, but other than that, once it gets to Namatame, expect this story to drop the light heartedness.

8/01:

Sure enough, around 4 days later, the boy was back in police custody. This confirmed my suspicions of the Midnight Channel; whoever appeared on that show was next to be kidnapped. However, I had also noticed that there seemed to be a grace period of around 1 to 2 days in between the two events, considering when Rise first appeared on the show, she wasn’t kidnapped right away. As for Mitsuo, he must have gotten into the TV before I checked the Midnight Channel. Speaking of him, I had no idea what was gonna happen about the Midnight Channel since the killer had been caught. Was it gonna disappear? Was it just gonna be empty? Either way, I figured that no one would show up on the Midnight Channel now that the perpetrator has been arrested, whose identity I am still recovering from.

 _Guess things are back to normal._ I thought.

And things did go back to normal. For 11 days.

…

8/12:

“Hey, you! You in the delivery car!”

I stepped out of my car to be greeted with a man holding a microphone, and a cameraman standing behind him, with the camera facing away from him. It was just before my shift began, and they were right in front of the tofu shop, seeming to have been looking for someone.

Considering the man’s reaction to me, I knew he had found who he was looking for.

“You talkin’ to me?” I asked.

“Yeah, you in the suit!” he said enthusiastically, “Come over here, we wanna ask you some questions!”

I walked over to where the two men were standing and spotted a news van parked farther up the street.

“Our questions are regarding the recent kidnappings and murders that have occurred in Inaba lately.” the reporter stated, “Now, is it true that you have previously known the murderer, Mitsuo Kubo, before his sudden outbursts of criminality?”

 _Dammit, who told them that?_ I thought, _Rise knew better than to do that, and the only other person I’ve ever told was-_

I silently reminded myself to seek out that blue-haired detective and give him a piece of my mind.

“Yes, I’ve known the guy before. He wasn’t a criminal before this, though.”

“Was he now?” the reporter only seemed to be listening to the facts he wanted to hear, “Now, tell us: what was that boy like during the time period that you had known him? Was he aggressive, hateful, selfish, anything?”

From behind me, I could hear the sound of a TV camera being turned on. A cameraman moved in front of my frame of vision and silently beckoned me to be quiet. I had a feeling I was going to be on local news that night.

“Well, first of all, the fact that Mitsuo was a killer had greatly stunned me when I first found out. I couldn’t have ever predicted his sudden change in heart. However, I did realize something was off about him.”

“Really?” The reporter said, “Do you mind elaborating on this?”

“Not at all,” I might as well play along, “He didn’t seem like the murderous type to me. He always just seemed attention-craving. He wanted to become something he wasn’t. I think that the kid realized just how tiny he was in the spec of reality, and just wanted to matter in the long run. However, the kid wasn’t exactly smart, just angry. I would have never guessed that he had the brains to manage 3 murders and 3 kidnappings.”

I chuckled, “I guess one’s philosophy drives one to do many things normally outside of their grasp.”

“Thank you for your insight.” The reporter thanked me. From the corner of my eye, I could see the cameraman switch off the camera. My shoulders relaxed slightly. I wasn’t afraid of being recorded live, but you can’t help but feel a little tense whenever you’re being filmed for the public. 

I suddenly realized I had a shift to attend to, so I walked past them and into the shop, where Rise greeted me.

“Hey, Takari-san. Those guys outside looked like they wanted to film me, but they drove off,”

“They didn’t wanna film you, they wanted to film _me._ "

Rise looked cautious, “Y-You? Why would they wanna film you?”

“They somehow figured out I used to know Mitsuo,” I sighed, “They just wanna know about his past.”

“Hmm…” she seemed to be lost in thought about something. I decided to leave her there, and just start my shift.

…

“ ‘He didn’t seem like the murderous type to me,’ ‘He wanted to become something he wasn’t,’ ‘The kid wasn’t smart, just angry.’ Those were the words of a young man who had known Mitsuo Kubo prior to his murderous spree. He described him as an attention-seeking, egotistical maniac who wanted to become something in the world. Mitsuo has admitted to his crimes and is currently in police custody. He has also admitted to those statements made about him. Moving on to other news…”

This was the final cut of the short little interview they gave me earlier today. It wasn’t inaccurate, however, I felt as if it was overscaled slightly, almost as if they’re trying to make him a born-criminal. I briefly considered telling my dad about my appearance on the news, but I eventually decided against it; he didn’t need to know. 

Eventually, the news network tuned off of Mitsuo, so I went back to my room. As I was heading up the stairs, the platter of raindrops reminded me once again of the Midnight Channel. I was quite curious as to what it would show now, or if it would even show anything at all…

…

Of all of the things I expected to see on the Midnight Channel, this wasn’t one of them. After the killer had supposedly been caught, and this whole charade seemed to have been over, for some reason, the Midnight Channel still shows its targets on television.

But not just any target; the Midnight Channel made me stare directly into the face of my own self. As I stared at the screen reflecting my image, my first thought was: _Oh shit… I_ **_do_ ** _look good in a tie!_

...obviously, my second thought was: _WHAT THE ACTUAL SHIT!?_

If Mitsuo was already in custody and the Midnight Channel still aired its targets, what did my appearance mean? Was it just a fluke? Would I not get kidnapped? No, that can’t be right, people showed on there for a reason. Did Mitsuo escape? No, he couldn’t have gotten out so quickly in between now and the news coverage. Would there be another killer? No, that just doesn’t make sense. Was Mitsuo innocent and the real killer was actually out there? No, that-

I stopped. I couldn’t actually provide a good reason why that theory was wrong. It also explained why Mitsuo appeared on the Midnight Channel if he was “supposedly” the killer himself. But, he was in police custody at the time. Did the true killer break in and take him? If that was the case, who exactly were we dealing with-

I stopped. I was freaking out WAY too much over this. I needed to calm down, and think clearly. I obviously didn’t have any answers yet, so who did I know that would give me any…?

 _Hmm…_ I wondered. _I think that Narukami kid might know something about this. He_ **_did_ ** _know about Rise’s disappearance, so he might know more about the Midnight Channel._

Whatever the case, I’d probably figure it out tomorrow. I put it out of my mind for the moment so I could focus on getting to sleep, and awaited the next day…

8/13:

Yu Narukami walks down the small road of the shopping district on his way to Junes Food Court. His friends had talked with him briefly about what they had seen, so they were planning on meeting up at Junes to talk about what to do. Yu was a little anxious about getting Takari to answer their questions, considering he already knew about the Midnight Channel, so if he caught them following him, he would surely grow suspicious of them.

_As if he’s not suspicious enough…_

He was going through the potential possibilities when a hand launched from a dark alley, and grabbed his shirt. The next thing he knew, he was being yanked into the alley and pressed against a wall.

“Please try not to struggle or call out.”

Good thing he said that when he did, or else Yu would’ve surely resisted had he not recognized who his attacker was. Along with his recognition, he felt a sinking pit form in his stomach due to his presence.

_He knows._

…

“You’re probably wondering what the hell I’m doing, aren’t you?”

Yu looked quite tense when I pulled him behind the two buildings, making me _almost_ reconsider doing this. Fortunately, he calmed down once he saw me. Things could’ve gone real bad if he didn’t listen. It didn’t matter though; what’s done is done. The only thing that matters now are answers. 

And boy do I want those.

“A-At first I was startled. Now, I’m anxious.” he admitted.

“Hmph, honesty. I admire that.”

Yu didn’t know how to respond to that, so I continued.

“You of course know why I’m here, yes?”

He sighed, “I have a guess,”

“Enlighten me.”

“First let go of me.”

I paused.

_Was not expecting that, even though I should’ve._

I awkwardly released him from against the wall, allowing him some breathing room.

“So, what’s your guess?” I taunted, even though I knew for sure he’d get it right.

An awkward silence followed before the boy sighed, “You watched the Midnight Channel, didn’t you?”

“You’re damn right I did.”

I gave him a slight smirk, “I’ve learned more since the last time we met. Those people who appear on the Midnight Channel? Yeah, they’re next for the kidnappings.”

Yu looked at me with a face of astonishment; not surprise, I suspected he knew this day was coming.

I continued, “However, the kidnapper was supposedly caught, right?”

“Y-Yeah, we thought it was all over.”

 _Who’s_ **_we_** _?_ I thought but didn't say.

“I did too, until I saw my own damn reflection on the next-up list for kidnappings.” I ended up saying.

I leaned in, “So, if the killer was caught, then why. In god’s name. Was I. On there?”

“I-I don’t know!” Yu protested.

 _“Then who does?_ ” I snapped.

Yu looked at me with a mixture of caution, fear, and curiosity.

“Why d’you think I went directly to you when I saw the Midnight Channel? Do you think I forgot about your involvement in the case?”

I huffed, “Somehow, you knew where Rise was when she was kidnapped. Now, when the supposed kidnapper airs on the same show you got that info from, he magically goes missing. And magically re-appears 4 days later! If anything, you know more about the Midnight Channel than anyone! So if _you_ don’t know, then I ask again: who does?”

Yu looked taken aback by my little rant about the case. His look of curiosity and slight fear had been replaced with startlement, and shock. But he quickly composed himself.

Eventually, in a much calmer voice, he spoke, “We genuinely believed that Mitsuo was the killer when he was taken in custody. We didn’t know what would happen to the Midnight Channel, however now that _you_ appeared, we’re having second guesses about Mitsuo’s crimes.”

“Oh really?”

He nodded, “You mentioned in that interview that the boy was attention-seeking. Mainly aggressive, wanted to make an impact on the world, that kind. It’s entirely possible that he didn’t kidnap any of those people in the first place.”

I thought about that for a second, “Now that you mention it, Mitsuo wasn’t exactly a smart kid; he’d be too dumb to avoid getting caught like 4 times. He probably just did that just for attention.”

I sighed, “So, back to square one for you, huh?”

“Well, not exactly.”

Yu cleared his throat, “You’re actually the only target that fully _knows_ that he’s next. Rise just suspected it because we came to her, but you came to _me…_ you’re the first person who’s caught on.”

I stayed silent for a while, letting him do the talking.

“If you _know_ you’re being targeted, you might have a chance at saving yourself. I hear the killer comes in at night, and kidnaps you as you’re coming out the door.”

I gave a dark chuckle. _“Hmph._ Well I certainly know a way to prevent _that_ from happening.”

“You could stay at someone else’s house. You had a sleepover with Rise once, didn’t you?”

“Tch, I’m not talkin’ about preventing him from showing up! I’m talking about preventing the killer from _taking me_ from my house.”

Yu’s eyebrow raised, “You think you can fight the killer?”

“I think? I _know_ I can fight the killer! What I don’t know is if I’d live.”

Yu’s eyes widened, “You can’t just risk your life like that!”

“Then what would you prefer I do? Let myself get kidnapped?”

I sighed, and turned away from him, “If there’s even a slight chance of me getting out of this, then you’d better believe I’m taking it. My disappearance would surely matter, so if I have the chance to stop this, then I’m doin’ it.”

There was a tense silence between us, before Yu’s phone buzzed.

“Oh, it’s the guys. Sorry, but I gotta go.”

He dashed out of the alley, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Something nagging at the back of my skull was a small, tiny question: _Would_ my disappearance matter?

But that was quickly overshadowed by more important questions, such as how was I gonna stop this killer from kidnapping me. The cops sure as hell wouldn’t believe me, and my father couldn’t care less, so I was on my own. I briefly considered using the emergency cartridge in my car, but I thought against it; I didn’t need to deal with _that_ shit (again).

And then I thought about something smaller; a knife.

_A knife! Why didn’t I think of this sooner? It’s perfect! I know the old man Daidara sells those, so I’ll-_

I just remembered that Daidara doesn’t exactly sell sharpened blades to high-schoolers, so I was back to square-

_Wait a second…_

No. No, no, no. I’m not going back _there_. I swore to myself I wouldn’t hang out with them anymore, look what happened last time! I constantly tried to think of other ways, but I kept on drifting back to going back. It was true, I didn’t want to go back, but after some thought… I know a guy who’s different. Who’s… like me in a way. Except he didn’t let it get to him, and stayed with them. 

Much stronger than I could’ve ever managed…

So, with a heavy heart, I made my way over to my old friend, in the dark corners of town, because where else _would_ he be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all the cliffhangers, but I really can't fit everything in without at least one. I really like the idea of Takari being the one character in P4 to actually topple Yu's impenetrable stone face. I mean, it'd take a lot not to struggle and/or shout when you're yanked into an alley. Takari also wasn't afraid of attempting to challenge the killer, and even took the concept of death lightly. This will come in play later in the story. As for his mysterious friend in the dark corners of town... you'll have to wait for Chapter 7 for that...


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful New Year, and what better way to kick it off with another chapter? This one will focus more on one of the relationship tags up top for the first time, as that one hasn't even been mentioned in this entire fanfic. But, I feel like my writing style has a pacing issue. Not as in story, but as in grammatical pacing. As if too many points are being thrown across too quickly. Other than that, I'm quite fond of the general storyline at the moment, and I can't wait to post later chapters (I'm done with the 10th one now). Once I finish the fanfic updates will come twice a week, and you'll know when I'm done when you see the question mark on the chapter number be replaced with a different number.

Yu walked up to their regular table at Junes Food Court where he was greeted by his 5 teenage friends. As soon as they saw him, they instantly knew something was wrong. He looked a little pale. He had that expression on his face that told everyone around him that he was thinking hard about something. 

“Hey,” Yosuke greeted him in a dark tone, “‘Bout time you showed up.”

Yu simply looked at him with tired eyes.

“You all saw the Midnight Channel, right?” Kanji said, “Does this mean…”

“That the true killer’s still out there?” Rise predicted, “Yeah… I think so.”

Chie sighed, “And to think we thought it was all over as well.”

No one said anything after that until Yu cleared his throat, causing everyone’s heads to be turned towards the source of the sound.

“I actually ran into him just now, as a matter of fact.”

Yukiko perked up, “You did?”

“What did you say?” Rise asked.

“It wasn’t me who said much, but… he saw himself on the Midnight Channel.”

“He what!?” Chie exclaimed, “Does this mean he knows he’s being targeted?”

“I dunno,” Yosuke sounded uneasy, “Narukami  _ did _ mention that he still doesn’t know that the people who appear on the Midnight Channel are the ones who are about to be kidnapped.”

“Yeah, about that…” Yu trailed off.

“...you’re sayin’ the dude knows?” Kanji asked softly.

“That’s right.”

Everyone stayed silent for a few seconds, until Yu continued.

“But that’s not the worst part. He’s planning on intercepting the killer as he shows up at his doorstep.”

“What!?” It was Rise’s turn to do the exclaiming, “B-But, he doesn’t know what’ll happen! He could die for all he knows.”

“I said the same thing. It didn’t do anything.”

“Ugh, dammit!” Kanji looked down at his feet in frustration, “We can’t save the bastard if he’s not in the TV yet, but we can’t just let him try and fight the killer! Who knows what’ll happen to him?”

“I agree.” Yosuke said, “And we can’t exactly get involved, considering he’s already taken action, so we’ll just have to wait it out.”

“How could you say that!?” Rise yelled, “You want us to just let him risk his life trying not to get kidnapped!?”

“It’s not like there’s a better alternative!” Yosuke protested, “We can’t get involved, and we can’t save him if he’s not in the TV! It’s all we can do.”

A tense silence between Rise and Yosuke ensued, before Kanji stood up.

“Hey. If we’re done with this little meeting, I think I’m gonna go home.”

Everyone looked over to Kanji in bewilderment, “It’s not like we can do anything.” he continued, “‘Sides. Talkin’ about all this is putting me in a weird mood.”

He turned around, “I’m really pissed.”

After that, Yosuke spoke up as well, “I’m gonna head out too. I gotta look for Teddie. Nothing good ever happens when he’s gone for this long. He probably broke something.”

Then, Rise perked up as well, “I can’t deal with Takari’s risk right now. Not knowing what’s gonna happen, but knowing it’ll probably be dangerous yet being powerless to stop it is making me feel sick. I’m gonna go back to the tofu shop and see if I feel any better.”

Finally, Chie stood up, “I… got a karate lesson to go to. I’ll… catch up with you later.”

That left Yukiko and Yu to cope with the problems. However, Yukiko was more concerned about Yu’s portrayal of the delivery boy. He seemed to think that Takari was… she didn’t quite know, but all she knew was that Yu was very uncomfortable on the topic of him.

“Yu-kun… is there something wrong?”

Yu looked towards Yukiko with bewilderment, “N-No, everything’s fine.”

“Yu…” Yukiko placed a tender hand on his shoulder, “You don’t look very good. Please. If something’s wrong, you can tell me. You can tell all of us. We’ll understand.”

Yu looked into Yukiko’s eyes, allowing Yukiko a full view of Narukami’s expression. On the outside, he looked only slightly disturbed, but deep within his eyes, she could sense fear.

And it was hurting him.

“I… It’s Takari. That boy, he just…”

“I know, Yu-kun. We’re all worried about him. But, it’s nothing we haven’t dealt with already.”

She gave him a supporting slime, “No matter what, we’ll get through this.”

Yu looked away, much to her surprise, “It’s not that.”

Yukiko looked slightly confused, “Is there something else?”

When Yu looked into her eyes again, this time the fear was much more visible, “It’s not Takari’s actions I’m scared of, it’s Takari himself.”

“Takari himself? He didn’t seem like that scary of a guy to me.”

Yu broke their gaze, “Well… I met him before, and… there’s just something about him. Something dangerous. How he figures out what’s going on faster than that detective, how he gets his answers in the most mysterious ways, how he shows little to no fear of death… there’s just something about him that gives off a sense of inhumanity.”

“Inhumanity…?” Yukiko wondered aloud.

Before Yu could say anything else, she wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him into a hug, “I know that you’ve been stressed out lately. I could hear it in your voice on the phone last night.”

Yu seemed to freeze up upon the physical contact, but eventually hugged back slightly as Yukiko continued, “I don’t know what you saw in that boy, but whatever it was, it was hurting you.”

Yukiko looked up at Yu, whose face was very close to hers, “But if you ever feel like you’re in any danger when in his presence, then just remember…”

She leaned in so that she was whispering in his ear, “I’m here for you. We all are.”

Yu closed his eyes, and breathed out slightly, “Thank you…”

…

As I walked down the dark slot between the two buildings, I could feel eyes redirect their gaze and land upon my figure. Voices that were once laughing and talking casually were now hushed, and mysterious.

“What’s  _ he _ doing here?”

“Never thought he’d show up here ever again.”

“Maybe he had a change of heart?”

“Tch, after what happened that night? There’s no way he’d come back here.”

“Then why is he here right now?”

I did my best to block out the whispers and rumors about me, and made my way towards my target; a man dressed in a black and red outfit. He had a fedora that was probably custom made for him at a tailor. It was a mix of black and red. He wore a large, dark red trench coat that was buttoned all the way up, paired with long, thick, black sweatpants, and small boots. He always looked like he was dressed for a funeral, and he always acted like he was at one as well. I could only imagine what his past must’ve been like.

I didn’t even need to tap him on the shoulder for him to realize that I was there. He didn’t turn around to look at me. He simply chuckled, however there was no humor in his laugh.

“Fancy seeing you here after all this time.”

I crossed my arms, “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

He exhaled slightly through his nose while giving a cold smile, “I can never tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”

His smile faded, and he turned the side of his face towards me, however his full face was still concealed, “Why have you come?”

“Because,” I responded equally as coldly, “I need something.”

This gave an almost real chuckle this time, “You? Need something from me? You haven’t asked me for anything since the day I met you.”

“Times change. You of all people should know this.”

He hummed, “Sometimes it’s surprising how well you can put up a point.”

He then cleared his throat, “So. What do you want?”

“To put it simply?” I stated, “A knife.”

Now he turned his full body towards me, revealing thick eyebrows, long bangs, and cold eyes, “You’ve never needed a knife before. Why would you ever need one now?”

I scoffed, “If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

He smiled, “Hmph. You’re probably right; I wouldn’t.”

He stood up, “So, how much are you willing to put in?”

I pulled a wad of cash out of my blazer pocket, and handed him 20,000 yen. I watched him count the money in silence.

Once he got it all, he whistled, “You must be looking for quality.”

He turned around, “Wait here. I’ll work something out with the buyer.”

And he walked into the depths of the alley, leaving me alone. I plopped down in his seat as I patiently waited for him to get my knife. As I waited, I looked around me, and took in my surroundings for the first time that day.

The alley hadn’t really changed much over such time. It still looked run-down, but it was holding up. I could recognize some features still intact within it; the dumpster which kids threw other kids into was still there. I had been thrown in once, and I had thrown others in more than once. The corner of a wall in which older kids attempted to push younger kids into was also still stained with blood. I had never really bothered doing it to a younger kid myself, however I  _ had _ stopped one or two kids from drawing blood on one of the victims. 

Unfortunately, there were some features that were changed since last time. The chalk-drawn circle that had housed one-on-one fights was no longer in its original spot; instead moved towards the wall, away from the view of the street. I had been in that circle before. I’d like to say I was the last one standing more times than my opponent was. 

And then there was the brick wall next to the fight circle. I could easily tell that it was stained from so much blood, however it wasn’t touched by any one-on-one fights; if any of them got pushed out of the circle, they would simply be pushed back in by the others. However, the reason that this wall was stained so badly wasn’t because of many fights. It was because of one, fatal fight that cost it all for me.

Suddenly, I had a head-splitting headache within my brain. I clutched my head in pain as the painful memories of that one night surfaced again in the form of flashbacks...

**The kid in the blue shirt was in shock at what he had done…**

**The kid in the blue shirt turned into the kid with the red shirt…**

**The boy in the suit was injured, the man in the coat tried to help him, however the boy in the suit pushed him away…**

**The kid with the red shirt was slammed against the wall, staining the wall red permanently…**

**Someone had tried to stop the boy in the suit, however he had knocked them flat in retaliation…**

**Blue and red lights illuminated the alleyway, as everyone dashed for cover...**

**The kid with the red shirt was taken to the hospital, along with the-**

“I got your knife.”

I snapped out of my trance (with some difficulty), and turned towards the source of the sound. He was standing over me, holding what appeared to be two parts of a handle connected by a small hinge at the top. He pulled the two parts of the handle apart, with them rotating around the hinge and revealing a small, yet sharp blade. Eventually, he stopped rotating the handles when they had connected on the other side of the hinge, creating a somewhat unusual form of a knife.

“This one’s official name is called the Bailsong, however it is more popularly known as the Butterfly knife.”

He handed the knife to me while he continued the trivia.

“It’s unusual appearance makes its wielder's enemies hesitate, for it does not look like a knife at first glance. It can also be concealed within one’s sleeve due to its small size when closed.

I toyed around with the knife, examining it and getting a feel for the weight.

“It takes one quite some time of practice to properly wield it, such as efficiently opening up the blade with one hand, or changing to reverse grip within the blink of an eye.”

Now that he mentioned it, the knife  _ did _ look complicated to use, however I figured out I’d learn sooner or later through practice.

“Overall, it costed three thousand less than what you paid, so here are the remnants of your deposit.”

He handed me the remaining money. I thanked him swiftly, and stood up to leave.

“Wait up… kid.”

I turned towards him, with curiosity in my eyes.

“Are you sure you want to come back here after-”

“Who said I wanted to?”

That caused him to hesitate.

“I only came here to get the knife. I hope I never see you again after this.”

Rather than snapping at me, he merely smiled, “Oh, I hope that’s not the case…”

He turned away from me, “See you around… for now.”

He slowly walked away from our little discussion, while I picked up my pace to get out of the alley as fast as possible without drawing attention…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like at the beginning, Yu was overestimating Takari’s dark nature slightly, and this will become a problem in later chapters. I'm trying to represent him as a generally nice person on the outside, but a darker person on the inside, as emo as that sounds. As for the other part of the chapter, this implies that he used to hang out with 'those' kids, like the ones wee see in the alley of Port Island in P3. As for the flashback, this will be a point where this story will take a darker turn, so if you're looking for a cheerful time where everyone's happy, then... this isn't for you. Anyways, see you soon.  
> Edit: I almost forgot: the music running through my head as I wrote the alley part was either Need for Speed: Carbon’s Tuner theme, or the calm piano part of Yoshikage Kira.  
> Edit 2: Just found another really fitting song: Nervous Ron’s theme


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How I have waited for this chapter to be set free. This is my favorite chapter of them all, and for good reason in my opinion. It is also the longest chapter in the series, rounding up to nearly 3,000 words, almost doubling the word count of the shortest one (and my second favorite), Chapter 3. This chapter combines tense scenes from both an emotional/psychological level, and a physical level. I loved writing it, and I hope you'll enjoy reading it.

I turned the doorknob of my front door and stepped into the house to be greeted with… nothing.

My shoulders relaxed; I always felt a little more at ease on my own than with him. Besides, I needed to practice in private. I sat down at the desk, held my new knife, and began to twirl it. I first tried with something simple, like trying to reveal it out of my sleeve with a flick of my wrist. After a couple of cuts, and some drops, I managed to get the technique down. I kept on practicing it anyway to get more comfortable with the knife’s movement. 

Next, I tried to spin the knife to get to reverse grip. This was quite harder, since it required you to momentarily let go of the knife and let momentum carry it into your hand, with the blade facing opposite from where you had started. However, after around 20-30 minutes of practicing this one move, I eventually got it down as well. 

Next, I tried to simply twirl the knife around in my fingers, and let the two handles fly around my fingers slowly, gradually increasing in speed at the pace I was comfortable with. 

As I twirled the knife, I assessed what situation I had gotten myself into. Supposedly, a kidnapper was going to come to my house late at night, and attempt to kidnap me. To where he was going to take me, I had no idea. The previous victims had been unaware of his warning sign, and had fallen right into his trap.

 _Dammit, I cut myself again!_ I thought as I picked it up and began to twirl it again, more slowly this time.

But… that Yu kid had told me that I was the first to know for sure that I was being targeted, so what did that mean?

My knife began to speed up.

What happened if I prevented the kidnapping? Would he give up? Would he change targets? Or would he hunt me down until only one of us remained? If that was the case, I was sure as hell that I’d be the last one remaining, and the only thing that’s gonna stop me is an accomplice or a bullet.

**Knock, knock, knock…**

Followed by silence...

I embedded the knife in the desk. My father sure as hell never knocked since he had the key, and my friends also sure as hell wouldn’t come here. The only other people who’d even think of coming here are my teachers, so I tested it.

“Who’s there?”

**Knock, knock, knock…**

Followed by silence…

 _That settles it._ I concluded. Anyone who knew me would address themselves, and there was no way they wouldn’t hear me. Still, I didn’t want to pull out a knife on some mute salesman, so I continued.

“ _Who’s there!?”_

**Bang, bang, bang…**

Followed by silence…

At this point, I had enough, “ **Oi! Identify yourself!”**

**BANG, BANG, BANG…**

Followed by-

**“DID YOU HEAR ME!?”**

I pulled the knife out of the table, strode over to the door, and slammed it open with my foot.

But… when I opened the door, no one was there. It looked like no one was ever there… how strange.

Just to be safe, I looked around my surroundings, and found no sign of movement, other than the trees and an idle delivery truck down the road.

I kept on looking around until a slight gleam grazed the corner of my eye.

I whirled around towards the sliver of light that had magically found its way into the depths of my vision, and was promptly greeted with... a trash can. The magical glint was gone. Whatever I thought I had seen there was purely my imagination.

And then I realized why I was here.

“Tch. Ding-dong-ditchers.”

I slammed the door shut…

8/14:

“Hey, did you see the Midnight Channel last night?”

“I did. The targets are normally in the TV at this point. But since we didn’t see his Shadow…”

“Ugh, I dunno partner. Why didn’t his Shadow pop up? Do you think he’s like you, and doesn’t have a Shadow?”

“No, I think he just avoided going into the TV.”

“Are you serious? W-Well then what happened to the killer?”

“I don’t know. All we can do at this point is just wait for tomorrow’s Midnight Channel. Or wait for a body to circulate in the news.”

“Are you serious dude? You think he’d kill the killer?”

“...I don’t know what to think anymore Yosuke. Let’s just wait for tonight.”

“...alright partner.”

…

“Hey, Takari.”

I turned towards the silver haired boy that had called my name, “Need something?”

“What happened?”

I didn’t need an encyclopedia to know what he was talking about.

“Surprisingly, nothing.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Really?”

I looked around me to make sure that no one was there, and I lowered my voice.

“No, not really. I got ding-dong-ditched.”

Yu’s eyes widened, “No one was there?”

I threw my hands up, “Nope! Little shits got me good. It was either a prank or a coincidence. But whatever it was, now I’m not gonna hesitate in slamming open the door next time.”

Yu sighed, “Just be careful.”

…

I was smack in the middle of my shift when my phone rang, an occurrence that happened oh, every once in a blue moon or so. I looked over and didn’t recognize the number, so I hung up. Unfortunately, it called not one, not two, not three, but three more times. By the fifth call I had enough, and just picked up.

“Who’s this?”

“Hey Takari-san!”

I sighed, “How the hell did you get this number?”

“Hey! Is that a way to treat a friend?”

She seemed quite confused at my reaction, “I just wanted to call to let you know that we have a big order coming in, so deliveries will have to be postponed.”

I groaned, “Really? And I was just getting in the zone! _That’s_ what you call me for?”

“Yeah, but feel free to use this number whenever, for whatever you’d like.”

“Why would I-”

“To hang out, to let me know if I forgot something, to make plans, anything!”

I hummed, “Alright, I’ll think about it. Call me if anything happens.”

“I will.”

I hung up.

…

**Knock, knock, knock...**

I turned towards the door, “ _Who’s there?”_

“Who else could it be, silly?”

My eyes widened. _The hell is_ **_she_ ** _doin’ here?_ I wondered.

I craned my neck towards the door, “Why are you here?”

She giggled, “ ‘Why’? No reason. Just wanted to hang out.”

I hastily shoved my knife back in my pocket, “ ‘Hang out’?”

“Yeah! Now can you open the door please?”

“S-Sorry…”

I walked over, and let her in.

She smiled, “You don’t have to apologize.”

She looked around at my first floor.

She was greeted with a humble living room, with a recliner, a couch, a coffee table, and a television set. There were 2 cabinets in the back, with one containing bottles of unopened whiskey and a single large photograph of my dad’s drinking buddies, while the other one consisted of an arrangement of vases, jewelry, and untouched photographs. The two cabinets belonged to my 2 respective parents; the first one belonging to my dad, while the second one belonging to my step-mom. Yes, I had a step-mom for a time, however it only lasted for a year, as she had been arrested for something my dad did a surprisingly good job of hiding me from. Across from the living room, there was a very small kitchen with a tiny desk for eating on. The kitchen consisted of a stove, a refrigerator, a microwave, a sink, and a dishwasher. Apart from a few cabinets, that was the entire kitchen. 

Once she was done examining my home, she turned towards me, “You seem to live in a nice home.”

I shrugged, “Eh. it’s nice until 1:30 at night.”

“...what happens at 1:30 AM?”

I crashed down on my father’s recliner, “My dad gets back from the bar.”

“O-Oh…”

_There we go again… can’t I at least bring a friend over without them getting all depressed and creeped out at my home life?_

I thought I should change the subject. I pulled the lever that raised the footrest and kicked back the back supporter, “Oh my god. Now _this_ is a damn good chair. You know what? I’m dying in this chair, it's so comfy.”

“As good as my grandma’s chair?” Rise asked.

“That piece of shit ain’t got no back support. It’s got the cushion, but no footrest makes it feel like a school chair when you sit down for too long.”

I looked up, “Hey maybe I should give your gramma this chair once my old man passes. She could use it.”

“You should check with her about that. I don’t know if she’d allow you to do that.”

“Eh, you’re probably right. It’d disrespect his name if I did that. This damn thing was the only thing he had apart from me.”

“Really?”

“OHH yeah,” I said, “Old geezer didn’t have much in the first place anyways.”

“Isn’t it a bit rude to address your father like that?”

I gave Rise a sidelong look, “Of course it’s rude. But it’s the truth. Nothing I can do to change it, so it’s pointless to try and avoid it.”

She seemed to think long about my statement, “Hmm. That’s an interesting way of looking at the truth.”

She looked up, “But… what if there was a way you could change the truth?”

I stood up from my chair, walked over to her, and sat down by her side, “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, you said there was no way you could change the truth, so there was no point in avoiding it. But, what if there was? What would you do then?”

I took a heavy breath in, and a soft breath out, “I would make everything in this world have some form of significance. I would change the truth so that everything in this world, mainly me and my father, would actually contribute to the world, and the only reason I know the world isn’t already like that is because my father is living proof of it.”

I looked at her, “Hey, why do you wanna know about all this in the first place?”

“I-I just wanted to see your vision, that’s all.”

“Vision? What do you know about my vision?”

I cleared my throat, “My vision would turn your world upside-down, terrascend your illusions, and send the sanctuary of your own ignorance crashing down around you.”

I continued, “Would you like to know about my vision of how every action I have done up to this point never mattered to anyone or anything? Or would you like to know my vision of how the same is true to my father, with both of us being insignificant?”

“But… your father raised you.”

“Tch, he didn’t raise me, I raised myself.”

“But still!” She actually seemed distressed now, “He is the reason you’re here today. Doesn’t that provide _some_ significance in the world?”

Rise looked at me strangely, “Don’t you even care about him?”

I didn’t say anything for a while. Not because I didn’t want to answer, but because I couldn’t. I simply didn’t have any answer to her. So, I answered her question with a question.

“What about you? You must think that everything in this world must be significant because you’ve got people who care about you. Approximately 10,000 tenagers that listen to your music, who just want a slight chance at even meeting you…”

“It’s more than that!” Rise exclaimed, “I have a family!”

I exploded.

“YEAH, WELL I GOT NOTHIN’ ALRIGHT!?”

Rise jumped at my sudden outburst.

“I got a useless sack of shit for a father that doesn’t give a damn about me or anything else in this world, a dead, careless mother, my former friends who have either abandoned me or I abandoned _them_ , and anyone else in this world just sees me as ‘some kid!’ “

I turned away, “ **No one gives a** **_fuck_ ** **about me!** ”

After I was done talking, I was breathing heavily. I hadn’t exploded like that in months, but what was I supposed to do? Sit on my ass and ignore my insignificance? Every action that I had ever done up to this point that was supposed to be significant had been robbed of me. It had taken away my meaning in the world. And it was more than ready to do it again.

I felt a soft, tender hand rest on my shoulder, supporting me, acknowledging me, despite that being pointless.

“ _I_ do.”

I slowly turned towards the girl, my eyes wide and sensitive. 

“I understand that life hasn’t been kind to you. You must feel so lonely now. You have no one, not even your own father.”

I turned so that my whole body was facing her, “But know this; even if your father isn’t the most significant thing in the world, that doesn’t mean you’re not significant yourself. You’re still young, you have plenty of opportunity. Think about it, how many people who have mattered thought that they were nothing when they were younger? Trust me, you matter Takari-san. You. Matter...”

...

8/15:

The time read 6:45. Once I got back to the tofu shop, it would be my last delivery for the night, and I was already rounding the corner. The summer heat was blazing, even when it was dark out, and I was aching to go home. It was one of the only times where I had felt tired of my job. As I pulled up to the shop, got out, and walked in the shop, I saw exactly one order placed neatly on top of the order bar.

“We have one last order before we close up shop.” Mrs. Kujikawa said kindly, “Do you think you could manage just one more?”

Despite desperately wanting to go home, I agreed, “Sure, it’s no problem.”

She smiled, “Thank you Takari-kun.”

I took the order from her, “Don’t mention it.”

I walked out of the shop, sat down in my car, and looked at the order and address. The tofu looked like it was for 3 or so people, and the address wasn’t too far from here. I could probably walk there in 10 or so minutes. But, since I had a car, I drove there.

Once I got there, I could hear a voice on the other side. The voice sounded like it was from someone who was in their 30s. When I knocked on the door, a man who was in that exact age range opened the door.

“Hey guys, the food’s here!”

I handed him the bags of tofu, “That’ll be six hundred yen.”

As the older man was fishing around in his wallet, I couldn’t help but feel like this was a familiar face. As I looked at the man, it suddenly hit me; this was that detective Dojima I was talking with a couple of months ago!

He got the money, “Here ya go.”

I then realized he said ‘Hey guys!’, indicating that there were more people there. I looked behind him and found… Yu?

I took the money, looked behind him, and waved slightly, “Hey.”

Yu nodded, “Hey.”

“Oh! Is this the tofu?”

I looked down to find a small, 6-year-old girl eyeing the food with sparkling eyes. She seemed very enthusiastic.

Dojima chuckled, “Yep. We don’t normally order tofu, but I figured that this was a special occasion.”

“Wow!” The little girl turned to me, “I didn’t know they delivered tofu!”

I smiled, “We sure do.”

“I love tofu!”

She turned to Yu, “Hey **big bro** , when dad’s not home, do you think we could order more tofu?”

He chuckled, “Sure!”

“Yay!”

Since I had already been paid, I awkwardly bailed and walked back towards my car. As they talked on and on, I couldn’t help but ponder over something that little girl said. She called him “Big bro.” Big bro… where have I heard that before…?

My eyes widened. 

_No. It can’t be. That girl, she’s just like-_

And before I could stop myself, the flashbacks were back…

**The little girl wanted to go with the boy in the suit, however he yelled at her and pushed her away…**

**The disappointment and anger on her face was like a bullet to the boy in the suit…**

**The little girl showed up, however he did not want her to show up…**

**Terrible things happened because the little girl showed up…**

**The boy in the suit both hated and loved the little girl...**

**If the little girl had not shown up, the kid in the blue shirt would have stayed the kid in the blue shirt…**

I was breathing heavily, putting a lot of support on the steering wheel. I hadn’t had an attack like that in 4 months. It was scary when they happened, because I never knew when they’d come next. But I had no choice but to put it behind me; it was the only way I had managed so long…

I eventually pulled out of their driveway, and drove back to the tofu shop, still shaken, but recovering.

…

**Bang, bang, bang…**

Followed by silence… 

I turned towards the door once again, _“Who’s there!?”_

**Slam, slam, slam…**

Followed by silence…

I had grown fed up; I stood up and strode over to the door.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me…”

I slammed the door open with my foot, “ **GET OUTTA HE-** ”

The last thing I remembered was an object being slammed against the side of my head, knocking me out instantly when I had my guard down…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus, what an ending. One hell of a cliffhanger in my opinion, and after such a dark chapter. The more I reread it, the more I love it. I deeply enjoyed the tense scene with Rise and Takari, because it shed a lot more light onto his inner psychic. He seems to be fully aware of he and his father's flaws, and this is mainly because he's always been alone all the time, with no one to give him a sense of security. I feel like this pair is very unique, because it's combining the lightest and most innocent character in the game with the darkest character (I'm putting Rise higher up on the "lightness" scale then Teddie because Teddie has a midlife crisis in November/December). As for the flashback... coming from an author's point of view, it's kind of difficult to tell how good of a detective your audience is, because the mysteriously vague details could be too obvious to what happened, ruining the surprise, or too encrypted, not making any sense to the audience. I strive for that perfect balance, so the flashbacks had to be tinkered with a little (by the way, this is where the PTSD tag comes into play). It also was a pretty brutal cliffhanger, and I kinda feel bad about that, so I might post another chapter this week if this chapter doesn't gain enough traction. By the way, I'm noticing that this fanfic is kinda slowish in gaining popularity. Whether that's because I created my account a month ago and thus have no other fanfics, this fanfic being super young and not having very good tags, or just not a very good summary. Either way, again, I fully plan to finish this fic, and I hope we can get to at least 1,000 hits by the time we're done.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NINETY FIVE. Chapter 8 gained NINETY FIVE hits in less than one week, as well as 25 in around 12 hours after I posted it. This is a record for me, and I'm so proud of you for making this possible! This fic might get 1,000 hits after all (almost halfway there as of posting). Chapter 9 is also a chapter that I think is a pretty good one. My favorite part about it (and all my other parts) is that it tries something new. It differs from canon a little, and makes a "what if" if the story was a little darker. Other than that, thanks again for 95 hits!

The man was carrying an unconscious boy on his shoulder. He couldn’t believe how close he had been to getting caught. Three days’ worth of planning only amounted to less than a second’s worth of time that chose between failure and success. Fortunately, he had managed to catch the boy off guard and swiftly knocked him out. He doesn’t know what he would’ve done if it didn’t knock him out immediately. The boy seemed dangerous enough to knock him flat if he had failed, and then he’d for sure report him to the police. To be honest, his heart was still beating at the thought of it.

Suddenly, the man felt an excruciating pain in his shoulder that nearly covered his vision entirely in black spots. He let the boy fall to the ground and kneeled down in pain, clutching his arm in pain. 

But, instead of hearing the sound of a body thumping to the ground, he instead heard footsteps.

A sinking pit with the weight of a bowling ball formed in his stomach. He instantly whirled around to what he thought was the unconscious boy, and was promptly greeted with a boy, very much awake and well, looking at him with daggers in his eyes. 

And the one in his hand was covered in blood.

…

I instantly launched towards my attacker with impossible speed as I slashed the knife in brutality towards his torso. He had managed to react just in time to not be hit with the full force, but he wasn’t quite fast enough to prevent a trickle of blood escaping. 

But I wasn’t done; I made a second, third, and fourth slash in his direction. The second one connected with much more force this time, causing him to stagger. The third one had missed entirely due to his staggering, and by the fourth one he had regained much of his concentration, and had managed to block my arm in place. With his other arm, he attempted to throw a punch at me. I merely grabbed his fist with  _ my _ other arm and, since I no longer had a free hand, slammed my head into his. Blood came trickling out of his nose, with his hands flying towards his face. I hoped it was broken. But then one of his hands drifted downwards into his coat pockets.

_ The specific angle of his wrist, the stiffness of the elbow… it’s a gun. _

And so, being the either stupidest or bravest action I have ever done, I launched towards my attacker once again rather than running away. With twice the speed of before, I rocketed over to the man and struck him with 3 quick blows before switching to my knife. All before he even pulled it out of his coat pocket.

He tried to take a swing, but I dodged it as if it was in slow motion. I hit him sharply on the cheek, wrapped my arms around the back of his neck, forced it down, and raised my knee up to slam his head into my knee.

The blow was critical; his stance was crooked, and his forehead looked very purple. I assumed that this would be an easy fight after this, so I charged towards him to deal one final blow. 

Unfortunately, at the last second, I realized that he had pulled the gun out. So, I swung my hand in a downward arc, pinned his gun against his body, making it dangerous to shoot, and attempted to fight him one-handed. I took a swing at him with my knife, but he had managed to block my wrist with his free hand. However, he was significantly weaker than I was, so it was only a matter of time before his strength failed him. I attempted to force the knife into his temple, however he had managed to keep my knife at bay for just a few seconds longer. However a bigger problem presented itself; I was losing my grip on the knife. The man of course noticed this, and knew he just had to hold out for a little longer. I tried to put more force into the knife but it was no use. I could feel it slipping from my grip more, and more, and-

A blinding pain found its way into my torst, blotting my vision entirely and setting me staggering back. I attempted to keep myself standing, but I didn't have the energy; I crashed down on the wall of the building and slipped down to a sitting position. The killer gave a stance of triumph, and reached down into his coat. His eyes widened. He began patting his entire body, looking for something.

And then he found it.

He found it.

He found it… in my hand. Pointed straight at him.

The bullet pierced the air, disrupting the silent nature of my surroundings, injuring my ears slightly.

The bullet had missed, but not by a lot. The man had jumped away from the place where he would have been shot, took one last look at me, and… hightailed it out of here like a coward.

I grinned slightly, proud of myself for causing a full grown adult to limp away with his tail between his legs,  _ That’s what you get, asswipe _ .

Only then did I address my own knife sticking through me.

The pain was excruciating, however I could still just barely see. Only about half of the blade was sticking through me, which wasn’t that bad. I was somewhat confident that this wouldn’t kill me immediately. 

That didn’t mean it wouldn't kill me at all.

I looked around my surroundings, and only found myself shrouded in fog. I desperately racked my brain for any possible solutions. My phone was still in my pocket, so I could probably call someone. I first thought was calling the police, but here’s how I envisioned the conversation to go:

**“Police, what’s your emergency?”**

**“Yeah hi, I uhh kinda got stabbed, and it was by a guy in a black mask, and I’m currently shrouded in some fog, with the only landmark being a telephone pole and a red mailbox, so I may or may not be in the south of the southern shopping district, however I don’t really know, so just look around, and you might find me, so hopefully I don’t die thank you very much bye.”**

...well,  _ obviously _ that wasn’t gonna happen, I could barely even talk at all, much less give a 500-page rhetorical essay on the current situation. 

My second thought was to call my father, buuuuut…. No. He’s probably out drinking or something.

My third option was to call a friend, and my only options were my friend who gave me the knife lodged in my chest, who I sure as hell wasn’t gonna give the satisfaction of superiority to, and Rise, who’s number I didn’t ha-

_ Wait a minute… I  _ **_do_ ** _ have Rise’s number! I can call her! _

So, with dangerously shaking hands, I took out my phone, and pulled up my contact list. I had added her after the call she gave me notifying me of the big order coming up, so I figured that number was as good as any to call. I punched in the number of Rise’s contact, and put the phone to my ear, desperately hoping it wasn't too late…

…

“YOU WHAT!?!?!?”

Dojima was infuriated with his partner at the moment. Right when he needed him most, he had to call in sick?

“I’m really sorry Dojima, but I’m really not feeling well.”

“That’s bullshit, you don’t even sound like you have a stuffy nose!”

“I-I don’t have a cold! I… I just… my stomach hurts.”

Dojima sighed, “Dammit Adachi, when are you gonna start acting like a grown up?”

“I- Dojima-san, I-”

Adachi was cut off by another call coming through, this time by a slightly more respected member of the force.

“Ugh, hold on Adachi, I gotta take this.”

He hung up Adachi’s phone, and picked up the phone from the other caller.

“Hellao? Dojima ‘ere?”

Dojima was greeted with the voice of a southern, stereotypical lesbian.

“Ugh, yes. This is Dojima speaking.”

“Yaw son just cawlled, he says to put yaw stinkin’ ass on the line.”

“Son? He’s my- Ugh, whatever, just put him on.”

The call transferred over to a much quieter, however doubly as distressed voice.

“Dojima-san? This is Yu. We’ve got a problem.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down.” Dojima reassured his nephew, “What happened?”

“We just found a guy outside the shopping district.”

“...and?” Dojima’s voice was very careful here.

“He’s been- He’s been-”

_ Even he can’t say what happened. _ Dojima thought.  _ Must have been something truly messed up- _

Suddenly, a much louder, and even  _ more _ distressed voice on the line picked up, “HE’S BEEN STABBED!!!”

Dojima shot out of his chair, “What!? Hold on, I’ll be right there!”

He slammed the phone down and ran out of the office as an annoyed voice on the other end snapped, “Chie!”

…

?/??:

I awoke in a wide and open space, containing nothing but fog. Even the floor was shrouded with the stuff. My chest had closed up, and the knife was nowhere to be seen, but I felt like that was unimportant. There was something wrong about this place, something… dark. I didn't bother checking my surroundings, I knew I would find nothing. There was no path to go, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

Just me, and the fog.

“Do you seek the truth?” A voice rang out.

It was impossible to tell where it came from, so I didn’t try to. I just looked around blankly, rotating in a slow circle on the spot. Unfortunately, my eyes were failing me; I couldn’t see anything. So, why bother trying to see?

I slowly let my eyes narrow, and eventually closed them, allowing the fog to shroud my vision. In a way, I had let the fog win. However, in another way, I had done the opposite. I had given in to the fog, and saw through it, even though I could not see at all. 

“Well?” The voice rang out again.

“Oh I seek the truth all right.” I responded, “I just look for it differently.”

At the speed of light, I opened my eyes, turned around, and instantly threw my hand in front of me. A beam of physical matter swept out in front of my hand, barreling towards anything unlucky enough to cross its path.

Unfortunately, it did not even faze this being, making me question whether it was even a “thing” or not. However it definitely made contact, but I knew that if I did it a second time, nothing would happen. So, I closed my eyes once again, since my vision clearly wasn’t doing me any favors.

“Fascinating… you choose to seek out the truth by residing within its greatest enemy?”

_ You’d best believe it. _

“Hmm… you will prove to be an interesting specimen. But I wonder… how will you find me when you cannot even see me?”

I smiled, with my eyes still closed, “You can run but you can not hide. Not because I can see you but because I can feel you.”

I whirled to my left, and thrust out my hand once more. Once again, physical matter swept out in front of me, and made contact with whatever this being was. However, rather than losing focus, I retained my “vision” by keeping my eyes closed. I then sent another beam towards the right of where I had originally fired, and made contact again. The third one went directly above the second, and the fourth one landed a direct hit on it, down and to the right of my third shot. 

“Ngh.”

But it soon regained composure as quickly as it had lost it.

“Impressive. You can see me the best out of everyone even though you completely embrace the fog…”

And then- did the being just chuckle?

“Will we meet again?”

I found myself being faded away quickly. I was powerless against the force of unconsciousness waving towards me, and before I knew it, I had fallen to sleep once more.

…

8/18:

I awoke to an annoying beeping noise that I eventually figured out was the heart rate monitor. The next sense that activated was my sight, and I found myself lying on a bed in what looked to be a hospital. As my eyes darted around the room, I caught sight of a number of things; a TV was perched in the corner of the room, with a cooking channel being played currently. A table full of medicine was sitting on a table, no doubt having been injected into me at some point. Above that table, there was a monitor that was displaying my current heart rate. It’s currently displayed as: normal.

Suddenly, a nurse walked in and noticed me awake. Rather than yelling out loud saying: “HE’S AWAKE!!” like I expected them to, instead she just smiled at me, and spoke to me in a calm voice.

“You’re finally up. We’ve been waiting…”

I didn’t respond to her, I only looked at her.

“Your current condition is under control. The knife had only gone in halfway, and dodged all of your vital organs. Rest assured: in due time, you will be completely fine.”

Well that’s certainly a relief. I wasn’t even being sarcastic, I would have been extremely concerned if I had misjudged the stab wound.

“Visiting hours begin in 2 hours. I suggest you get some rest until then.”

She walked out of the room. I took a look at my surroundings once more, just to get a feel for the place. I found a window with the view of the small town being blocked by blinds, and an adjacent window also blocked by blinds that I assumed would show any visitors.

That reminded me: just who would come and visit me? I assumed my dad might, he is family after all. As dysfunctional as he is, the least he could do was visit his hospitalized son.

_ Ugh, hospitalized son leaves a bad taste in my mouth. _

Rise most likely would, I did call  _ her _ after all. She probably freaked out when she saw me in the alleyway, since she was freaking out on the phone call. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have ruined that girl’s false sense of innocence and security, but I had no other options.

_ I mean I didn’t  _ **_completely_ ** _ shatter her view of the world. I  _ **_did_ ** _ yell at her about my philosophical problems, but that’s a blunt way of putting it. _

Yu also probably would, since I did tell him about it. I felt a sinking pit form in my stomach about having to face him, since he was worried that this would happen. But even if I  _ did _ get stabbed, at least I didn’t get killed, like he predicted I would. That would mean that the killer would have won, and surviving when my opponent had a  _ gun _ was fairly impressive in my opinion when all you’ve had was a butterfly knife that you barely knew how to use.

_ I shouldn’t say  _ **_barely,_ ** _ I’m a fast learner, even for three days. _

As I thought on and on about the current condition I got myself into, I eventually found myself drifting away, slowly, but surely…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notice how I included an archive warning up top? I really liked the idea of Takari being prepared for this, and being smart enough to realize he's being kidnapped. However, he's not exactly a perfect character; he attempted to go for blood when fighting the killer, indicating that he wasn't afraid of killing him. He also mentioned that he didn't exactly "lose" to the killer, since he made him run, however he's still angry at him for making him vulnerable when he was so prepared. After this chapter, you can expect everything to cool off for a while (up until Namatame). Also, I just wanna give a quick FYI that starting with Chapter 10, this fic will be gaining updates TWICE a week rather than every weekend. This is because 2,000 words per chapter is a surprisingly short read imo. However, there will come a time where I fall behind on my schedule, and at that point, expect chapters to come out whenever they're done, rather than at a consistent pace. Finally, leave comments every once in a while. Maybe share your thoughts? This fic is still new, so I'd like to see ways of how I could improve!  
> Edit: Changed the summary in an attempt to attract more readers


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who made ninety hits on Chapter 9 possible. As I said, things will begin to cool down after that, so this is why I'm making 2 chapters get posted per week, 1. Because the story will be far too boring if I post it every weekend, causing you to lose interest, and 2. Because I have way too many chapters sitting in my Google Docs folder (Ch. 14 is done). So, every weekend and Wednesday, I will post a chapter until I'm all caught up, at which point chapters will be released once they're done (as I said before).

“Oi, wake up.”

My eyes fluttered open with some difficulty. A voice had just called out to me. At first, it was hard to distinguish the voice, but as my eyes opened wider and wider, I caught the gaze of my father, with a concerned look on his face.

“Hey.” I greeted weakly.

He raised his eyebrows momentarily, before returning them to their original state, “Jesus, you got me in a panic that night. 11 am, call from the police, my only son getting stabbed. You sure know how to try and give an old man a heart attack.”

I exhaled through my nose, “You’ve got 7 years before I call you an old man. 65 is my ‘old man’ zone.”

“Was that supposed to be a joke?”

“Actually, no. I’m being completely serious.”

My father looked down for a minute, before responding, “I’m not joking either. You scared the shit outta me. Now don’t get stabbed again, you hear?”

I would have laughed if it wouldn’t have hurt like hell, “You act like I had a choice.”

He shrugged, “Eh, still. If I ever go through a shock like that again, I might actually get a heart attack.”

He pointed to me, “And _that’s_ not a joke.”

He sat back in his seat, “So, been a while since we talked normally. How’s school been treatin’ you?”

We talked like that for a while, just catching up on everything he missed, but eventually he ran out of things to talk about. He had little choice but to get up, wish me a speedy recovery, and bail.

…

“You know, when I give you a knife, I expect it to go into the _other_ person.”

 _The hell? How’d_ **_he_ ** _get here?_

I sighed, “At this point, I’m just lucky I survived.”

“Are you now?”

He sat down by the chair that faced me, a mixture of pity and smugness on his face.

“You really think that it was _luck_ that stopped you from being a tombstone?”

I looked down. _Maybe not_ **_all_ ** _luck…_

“Well, what do you think it was?” I asked.

He merely smiled and shrugged, “I haven’t got a clue. But what I _do_ know is that it sure as hell wasn’t luck that got you out of it alive. If I had to guess, I’d say he either couldn’t do it because of cops or injuries, or out of pity.”

 _This_ time I actually laughed, a short lived one since it hurt like hell, “You think that he would have _spared_ me? I’d be insulted if he did that. I’d track him down and get a rematch just to be sure one of us came out on top.”

 _“Oh really?”_ He leaned closer in his seat, “Then you _don’t_ think that ending up with your own knife stuck within you is a loss?”

_You can be a real bitch sometimes, you know that?_

“Actually, no, I don’t think it’s a loss.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Is that so? Then how did you lose a fight to some homeless mugger?”

“Shut up. I _was_ winning beforehand, the little shit just pulled out a heater, and forced me to-“

I stopped. He was looking at me with… astonishment? Or was it just astonished disappointment? Either way, I hadn’t seen his eyes widen in over a year, however to be fair I hadn’t seen him at all since 6 months.

Suddenly, he smacked me on the head hard.

“Ow!”

“You goddamn dumbass! The hell were you thinking, taking on a guy with a _heater?_ What are you, nuts? You lookin’ for a death wish?”

“Well I didn’t know he had a heater until after I beat his punk ass up, he whipped it out in the middle of the fight because he was too pussy to actually fight.”

He was silent. I had really just proven to him that even though I got stabbed, I had still “won.” He took a breath in as if he wanted to say something, froze, and closed his mouth again. His face slightly lit up, and he spoke this time.

“One more thing… how… why didn’t the guy shoot you after he stabbed you?”

I made the widest grin, “Cuz I stole it.”

His face grew the slightest shade of red as he made an impressive attempt to conceal a chuckle, “You… stole his gun?”

“Yep! Stole it right out of his-“

In retrospect, it actually was pretty funny. I couldn’t help but give a painful, but totally worth laugh that eventually turned into coughing while I was smiling. And then I wasn’t smiling because I couldn’t stop coughing. And each one hurt like all hell.

After I finally calmed down, he gave me a half sincere apology.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten you on a subject like that.”

“ ‘s not your fault.” I assured him, “Laughter is the best medicine.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

A small silence filled the air, before he spoke up, “Look, just take it easy from here out. Don’t get into any more fights and shit. Wait till you’re healed. Last thing you need is an excuse to come back here.”

He then stood up, but before leaving, he said one last thing, “By the way, those high schoolers outside? You know ‘em?”

“High schoolers? Why the hell would my classmates visit me?”

“I recognize one of them. He took down some of the biker leagues that swung by our place on occasion-“

“I told you, I couldn’t give a shit about that place.”

He exhaled silently through his nose, “You’ve really abandoned them, huh?”

“How hasn’t this been clearer in the past? I’m out. **Period.** ”

He stared back at me, “And what about me? Have you abandoned me?”

I took my time answering that one, “Clearly the opposite is true for you. I came to you because I needed something. You came to me because you know I can’t get up and leave.”

“Is that truly why you think I’ve come?”

I left that question unanswered this time, cueing him to walk towards the door, “You’ll learn why I came. Eventually…”

He walked out of the room, leaving me with my thoughts to myself…

…

The Investigation Team was idling outside of Takari’s hospital room, a dark atmosphere finding its way into their usually lighthearted nature. This was the first time that a victim of the Midnight Channel had been seriously injured, but the cherry on top was the fact that they had _known_ this would happen and done nothing to stop it. However, could they really have done anything in the first place? On top of the fact that he hadn’t even been kidnapped, and hadn't learned about the TV World, they had no idea what to do about his situation. What was he gonna say to Yu? What would he say back? These were some of the questions running through their minds before Rise spoke up.

“We’ve got to tell him.”

They all looked her way, with dark looks on their faces, “What, about the TV World?” Kanji asked, “Maybe, but you think he’ll believe us?”

“What other choice do we have?” Yosuke said darkly. 

He then raised his voice, “If anything, we should have told him from the moment he found out! He’s smarter than that boy detective, but a hell of a lot more reckless!”

“But… even if we _did_ tell him, would it have truly stopped this from happening?” Chie asked no one in particular.

“We can never be 100% sure.” Yu said, “At this rate, we're never 100% sure of anything that has to do with this.”

“Well, all that matters is that we tell him now,” Yukiko said, “We might be able to get him on our team even.”

“Are we sure we want a bastard like that on our team?” Kanji asked shakily.

“As opposed to what?” Rise sounded pretty angry, “He’s been stabbed for crying out loud, Kanji! After all of that, you wanna just leave him in the dark? If anything, he deserves to know!”

“I know, but…” Kanji couldn’t find it in himself to go on.

Just then, a man in a red and black trench coat stepped out of Takari’s room, “He’s awake if you wanna visit.”

He left as quickly as he had come.

Everyone looked back to one another, “So, what’s the verdict?” Yosuke asked.

Yu sighed, “We have to tell him. I don’t know how he’d believe me, but we have to tell him.”

He looked to his friends, “If he had escaped unharmed, I would have considered staying silent, but now that something as serious as this happened, there’s no other option.”

He turned towards the door, “Let’s just hope he doesn’t take it the wrong way.”

…

My visitor was facing me with a dark look, having already entered and sat down. I patiently waited for him to say something, however I quickly realized that he either wouldn’t, or couldn’t, considering he didn’t.

“Well?” I started, “Aren’t you gonna say something like, ‘I told you so’?”

He simply looked at me sadly, “I’m in no position to tell you anything like that. That would simply be rude to tell you in your current state.”

“Then what are you gonna tell me?”

He stood up, a clear look of determination on his face, “Everything.”

He then left the room, however I knew he’d be back soon. 

Fortunately, it was a lot sooner than I had expected, but he wasn’t alone. He was followed by the brown haired kid I had seen all those months ago, who I barely remembered from the depths of my mind. Next up was the punk looking kid who was the one my previous visitor had mentioned, followed by a girl dressed in green, and one in red. Another kid with blonde hair and a rose nicked to his shirt emerged, who was the only one who wasn’t frowning, followed finally by… Rise?

The seven kids all stood apart from each other, all focusing on me.

“Who are you people?”

“We call ourselves the Investigation Team,” Yu answered for me, “Our role is to look into the recent kidnappings and murders of Inaba.”

I raised an eyebrow, “So what, like a secret crew of detectives?”

“Not exactly,” The brown haired kid said, “We track the kidnappings in Inaba, and make sure that the kidnappings don’t turn into murders.”

“Like what happened with Rise?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said silently, “Like me too.”

“Cool. So how do you prevent the kidnappings from turning into murders?”

Everyone looked to Yu, who nodded slightly. He took the remote from the table, and turned off the television. He then walked over to said television, and placed his hand on it. 

Suddenly, a rippling effect appeared on the screen that emanated from his hand. It was as if his hand had dipped into water that was completely still, creating a ripple effect. His hand and wrist were slightly concealed, so I squinted to try and see what was happening.

Suddenly, his entire forearm was concealed. At that moment, I now realized what he was doing.

My eyes widened, “What the hell…?”

“This is a portal to a place known to us as the TV World.” Yu said calmly, “Those on the Midnight Channel are thrown in here within a couple of days of their appearance.”

The brown haired kid spoke up, “There isn’t exactly an exit, so once it becomes foggy here, the creatures down there go berserk, killing whoever’s-“

“Wait, hold on a minute,” I interrupted, “There are creatures down there?”

“They’re called Shadows,” the punk told me, “The TV place is full of fog, so once the fog up here sets down, the fog down there lifts, and the Shadows kill whoever’s down there.”

I nodded, “Ok, so there’s this weird world with Shadows that kill people when fog comes, and they can’t get out. Is that right?”

“Pretty much,” the girl in green confirmed, “Once people get thrown in, they face _their_ Shadow, which is a representation of their other self.”

“Other self…?” They lost me.

“Basically, it’s the physical manifestation of the side of them they refuse to acknowledge,” Yu answered for me, “For example, Rise here had an other self that was unable to distinguish what her true self was, leading to a Shadow of the façade that she puts up for everyone else. In other words, Risette.”

“Ohhh, that makes sense now…” I was beginning to understand.

The brown haired kid spoke up, “Once you’ve accepted your other self, and realize that they’re a part of you, you gain this special power to fight Shadows. We call it a Persona.”

“A… Persona…?”

“Yes.” Yu said, who had taken his arm out of the TV, “To recap, the victims appear on the Midnight Channel. A couple of days later, they get thrown into the TV World, where they face their Shadow, or other self. Once we go in and fight their Shadow, they’re forced to accept their Shadow as their own self, and gain their Persona.”

“I have one question however.” I said, “How do you save them if you can’t even get out in the first place?”

“That’s where I come in!” The blond haired boy exclaimed, “I used to live in the TV World, so I can let them out again!”

Out of all that I heard, this was the thing that confused me the most, “You… used to live there?”

“It’s hard to explain.” The brown haired boy said, “Anyways, we’ve been trying to figure out who’s been throwing the victims into the TV World, and, well, since you’ve been stabbed by him-“

“You want me to join your little group.” I finished, “I was gonna agree before you even asked me. That bastard managed to get the advantage on me, there’s no way in HELL I’m letting him go loose when he beat me in a fight just because he had a gun.”

Of course I only just _now_ realize that they didn’t know he had a gun.

“The nurse says I’ll be outta here by the time school starts up again. Which is a relief because it’s damn boring in here.”

It was a little while before Rise spoke up, “We’re glad to have you on the team. If you want, I can come visit you while you wait for your recovery.”

“That’d be great. But, there’s one thing.”

Yu raised an eyebrow, “What is it?”

“I don’t exactly have a “Persona,” so what use will I be?”

“I mean, that’s not the only thing to do with it,” the punk said, “You’ve been stabbed for cryin out loud, it’d be rude to leave you out.”

“Politeness has nothing to do with it, but I guess that makes sense.”

“By the way,” the girl in green spoke up, “You said you’d get out before school started, so what school do you go to?”

“Yasogami High, why?”

“Woah, really?” The brown haired kid sounded unusually impressed, “Does that mean we all go to the same school?”

_“What a coincidence!” Yeah, like that phrase hasn’t gotten old._

“Well then, I guess I’ll see you there.” I said.

They all nodded, and slowly trickled out of the room. Rise was the last one to the door.

“Get better soon Takari-san!”

As she walked out of the room, I figured that this wasn’t the last I was gonna see of them. I might actually regularly hang out with them. But, since I didn’t have a Persona as they called it, would I really be of much use?

 _Nonsense,_ I thought, _They told me themselves that they’d let me in their group, regardless of my powers. Besides, it’s much more than that now…_

And so, I joined the Investigation Team as the only member smart enough to realize his fate and prevent his kidnapping, minus being stabbed of course. Even though I couldn’t fight within the TV World, I would hopefully prove more than useful in the real world…

…

Deep within me, far past my conscious, subconscious, and knowledge, a once dormant side had just now been activated. A side that had not needed to be activated prior to this moment because there was no reason. However now, a new reason for being presented itself, a reason that it had not gained for 18 years.

And the reason was the change of circumstances I found myself in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was all dialogue, and maybe a little boring, but I think it cleared up certain things. This chapter goes further into detail about how Takari is angry about the killer beating him in a fight simply because he had a gun, and he has every right to be angry about that. The man in the red and black trench coat is never really named, and that's intentional. I also like how they ended up telling him straight out at the end, rather than going through the long process of meeting, denying, fighting, and confronting your Shadow. To be honest, I don't even know why I included Takari's dad, the only reason I did it was to show that as flawed as he may be, he does care about him a little. Chapter 11 comes out Wednesday, so see you then!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For whatever reason, this one took me forever to get around to write, but it was written fairly quickly once I got around to it. However, if I'm being honest, this one's not among my favorite chapters. I wasn't to thrilled with the end result, but I have to include it, otherwise key points in the story will be left out, like Naoto and the school trip's buildup, and the mini-party. But, it'll have to do for the time being (at least until if I ever decide to remaster this fic, which probably isn't going to happen).

8/31:

After what felt like the longest time, I was finally allowed out of the hospital. It “only” took half a month. I had regained some of my strength, and was looking pretty good. The doctor told me to avoid any major activities such as sports for a couple of months. Basically, just “take it easy” this, “don’t push yourself” that, you’re outta here. Once I was out, I would have to take a cab, because my father can’t drive anymore, and I left the car at the house. On the bright side, this meant that I got an excuse to not have to do Phys Ed for the rest of the year, which was lovely, because Phys Ed was boring as hell. 

I was thinking all of this as I was walking out of the door, when I spotted Dojima standing outside, no doubt waiting for me.

“Hey. Mind if I talk with you for a minute?”

I had a pretty good guess of what he wanted to talk to me about, but I had already told the authorities my story; a mugger confronted me, so I fought in self defense. There was no real connection to the cases as far as I was aware of, so he clearly wasn’t here to interrogate me about that.

Still, it’d be best to remain cautious.

“Sure.”

We walked into an empty section of the parking lot, where no one would bother us.

“I saw that you made friends with my nephew and his friends.”

I blinked.

_ This wasn’t going in the direction I thought it would, but I guess that’s not exactly a bad thing. _

“Sure, they visited me once or twice.”

He chuckled, “More like 4 or 5 times.”

I shrugged, “Guess they care about me.”

“That’s my point.” Dojima gained a more friendly tone and expression, “To celebrate the end of the summer, the neighbors and their friends are getting together, and they gave me a watermelon. Since you’re out of the hospital, I was wondering if you would be interested in swinging by.”

**_FOOD!?!?!?_ **

“Well, that’s a pleasant surprise.” I admitted calmly, “Guess it could also serve as a “welcome back” party for me. Don’t worry about driving me home, I think I can walk there from your house.”

“This means you’re in?”

I nodded.

“Great. My car’s over there, you can sit in the front.”

He pointed to a white Land Rover with a spare tire latched onto the back.

As we were walking towards the car, he mentioned something else, “My nephew and all of his friends are there as well. They’re looking after my daughter.”

“Oh, that’s right; I forgot about her!” I remembered.

He raised an eyebrow, “You’re familiar with her?”

“Yep. Remember when I delivered tofu to your house a couple of weeks ago?”

He climbed in the driver’s seat, while I snatched shotgun.

“Oh, that's right! I’m surprised you still remember her.”

_ Believe me, I couldn’t forget her if I tried, and I  _ **_have_ ** _ tried... _

…

“I’m home- whoa, that’s a lot of shoes. How many people are here?”

A little girl came running towards the doorway, a clear target in her sights, “Welcome home!”

She then spotted me, “Oh, who’s this?”

The seven teenagers (or, six and a bear) all turned their heads towards the door, giving light to a second figure standing beside Dojima.

“I just picked him up from the hospital. He’s a friend of your brother’s.”

I looked down and waved, “Hi there!”

She waved back cheerfully.

“You never said that he was coming over,” Yu spoke up.

“I ran into him, and decided to give him a ride,” Dojima stated, “He’s your friend after all.”

That seemed to satisfy Yu, but the girl at our feet still had something on her mind, “Um, let’s split the watermelon open!”

Me and Dojima looked at each other with widened eyes.

“Say what!? …Uh, well, you see…”

I had watched Dojima split the watermelon open himself.

...

“C’mon Nanako, don’t pout. Everyone came here to hang out, right?”

Dojima was sitting cross-legged, facing the back of his disappointed daughter. We were all eating the watermelon, with Yosuke, Yukiko, and Teddie sitting at the table. Rise, Yu, Nanako, Chie, and I were all sitting on the back deck, with Kanji standing next to the deck.

“It never occurred to me that you’d want to do that…”

I felt as if I should say something, “I can buy another watermelon for you if you like.”

“ ‘s not the same.” Nanako mumbled quietly.

Fortunately, Chie came to my aid, “Hey, Nanako-chan. Let’s do it again sometime.”

She perked up slightly.

“Next time we’ll do it right; at the beach!”

“Whoa…” Yosuke had a weird tone in his voice, “Does that mean we get to see you guys in swimsuits!?”

_ Ah, so it’s one of  _ **_those_ ** _ groups… _

“Oh… but there probably aren’t enough days left. We’ll have to do it next year…” he figured.

“Next year…” Nanako echoed.

“Don’t sweat it, kid.” I attempted to cheer her up, “A year goes by quick. Before you know it, you’ll get the chance again!”

“Quickly?” she looked to her older brother, “Will you play with me next year too?”

He smiled warmly, “For sure,”

“Of course we will!”

“You betcha!”

“You betcha!”

Dojima looked at his daughter, “Did you hear that, Nanako?”

She nodded, “Yep! Thank you!”

The fun time slowly passes by…

...

I found myself standing at Dojima’s door, almost everyone headed home by now.

“I wanna thank you for inviting me here. No one’s invited me to a party in years.”

“Don’t mention it.” he said, “Besides, we had fun, right?”

“Right…”

“By the way,” he changed the subject, “You sure you can get home alright by yourself? I mean, we wouldn’t want a repeat…”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine.” I reassured him, “But, if it makes you feel any better, you can give me a ride if you want.”

“I’d feel more comfortable doing that. If it’s alright with you of course.”

I nodded, “Sure.”

…

After Dojima drove Takari home, he came home, and thanked Yu for everything.

“It’s been a while since I last saw Nanako in high spirits like that. Thanks, kid.”

Yu nodded, returning the favor. Dojima then began reminiscing on everything that happened.

“The case is finally solved... Now for all the- eh, never mind. Save it for some other time.”

He looked up, “You know... you really made some great friends. Even Takari, who got sent to the hospital, was greeted with a warm welcome.”

Yu nodded once more, speaking silently, through gestures…

…

9/01

After a boring first day of school back from the summer break, I came down to the first floor to be greeted with Yu, Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, and Rise discussing something.

“Hey.” I made myself apparent, “Something going on?”

“We were just discussing that boy detective.” Yosuke said, “He just transferred here after the case was closed, or, rather, supposedly closed.”

“Boy detective…” I thought back to a while ago, “Come to think of it, I think I might have met him. Does he have blue hair?”

“That’s the one,” Chie confirmed, “But, lots of kids these days have blue hair.”

I looked to my right, “More specifically, does he look 6 inches shorter than everyone else, never takes his hat off, and is currently being cornered by two girls?”

“Huh?” They all seemed confused.

They eventually walked around the corner and followed my gaze until they spotted Naoto with her back to the wall being confronted by two girls. At first glance, they were trying to be friendly to her, offering to show her around the area, but eventually it was discovered that maybe they were being a little too ‘friendly.’ Naoto caught on to this, and promptly shut both girls down. 

I knew from experience that they wouldn’t exactly take too kindly to such a blunt and in-your-face refusal, and sure enough, I was right; they began advancing on Naoto, getting more and more irritated.

“Geez…” Youske noted, “Way to make an impression.”

He casually walked over to the boy, and nonchalantly greeted, “Yo, Naoto-kun. How’s it going?”

The girls, seemingly shocked by a normal way to talk to a human being, didn't know what to say.

Perfect time for Kanji to show up, when students’ minds are force resetting.

“Hey guys. ‘Sup?”

**Force Reset Failed; Attempting Factory Reset.**

“Uh, well, we’ll be going now...”

**Factory Reset Success; All Data Wiped. Initiating GTFO Sequence**

Moving on, when the boy was approached by us, this time we were much more friendly towards him.

“So we meet again.” he said, “May I help you?”

“Hey Naoto-kun. If you’re not doing anything after school, wanna come with us?”

He didn’t seem to catch on immediately, “Come with… You mean me?”

_ Who else is named Naoto and is standing right in front of us? _

“...Perhaps another time. I must go straight home today. promised my Grampa so.”

Fortunately, Chie didn’t seem to down, “Oh well... That’s that then. Let’s hang out some other time.”

…

“Man, Naoto sure blew his debut at school…” Yosuke shared.

The eight of us were sitting at a table at Junes, apparently their ‘special headquarters’. We were discussing the new kid, Naoto, and his ‘interesting’ first debut at school.

“Is he gonna be okay at Yasogami?”

“He is different,” Yukiko admitted, “But he has this… mysterious air around him.”

“Much to my surprise, she then turned to me and said, “Kind of like you Takari-san.”

“R-Really?” I didn’t know how to respond to this, it was the first time anyone had told me anything like this, “I never knew I gave off an ‘aura’.”

“Kind of, but it’s different with Naoto,” Yosuke said, still not really making things clearer.

Then, Chie spoke up, “Naoto-kun seemed like he wanted to get home as soon as possible... Maybe he wanted to mull over the murder case.”

“I bet he’s not satisfied,” Yosuke guessed, “Even though the case is closed.”

“Not.” I reminded them.

“Oh, that’s right.” Yukiko darkly said, “So, the killer truly  _ is _ out there still…”

“Really...?” Chie said worryingly, “B-But... what about the killer the police are holding right now?”

“What if he wasn’t the killer…?”

Seven pairs of eyes rolled towards me, “W-What do you mean?” Teddie asked shakily.

“When I first appeared on the Midnight Channel, I suspected that Mitsuo might not have been the true killer. Think about it; why would Mitsuo be on the Midnight Channel if he was the killer himself? If the Midnight Channel warns the public of who’s next, why would he warn them of himself entering the TV?”

Everyone thought about that for a minute, but I wasn’t done, “Plus, the guy who attacked me that night was older than me. There’s no way it could have been Mitsuo.”

“I… I guess you’re right…” Yosuke admitted darkly.

“Guess this place is still our ‘special headquarters’.” Chie whined, “Eh, let’s talk about something else.”

Yosuke then remembered something, “Isn’t the class trip coming up soon?”

“We’re going to Tatsumi Port Island.” Yukiko answered, “I heard it’s an artificial island that faces the ocean. It’s a pretty big city.”

“I think I had a cousin who used to live there…” I said.

“Huh? Port Island?” Rise seemed to recognize the name, “I did tons of shoots there. It’s just beyond the Moonlight Bridge, yeah? Should be lots of places to hang out there.”

“Uh, actually…” Chie began, “We may not have any time to goof off during this trip.”

She then went on to explain how it would be visiting a private school there, while focusing on serious business.

“Ugh…” Rise seemed disgusted, “They’re totally missing the point of a class trip.”

“If you think that  _ this _ is missing the point,” I began, ‘I can only imagine what your expectation of the point of a school trip is.”

“I heard this private school is really good.” Chie said, “They have nice buildings and everything. But, we’re touring a factory on the second day, and leaving on the third.”

“Can’t expect much from a school-sponsored trip I guess.” Kanji stated accurately.

“I’ll show you guys around!” Rise cut in cheerfully.

“Well, that’s a relief." I said, “At least we won’t be bored out of our minds for most of the trip.”

“I dunno…” Yosuke seemed uneasy, “Doesn’t this seem like a pain in the ass for anyone else?”

“Some people were against the idea, but it’s been decided.” Chie said to everyone’s dismay.

But if that brought all of us to dismay, nothing would bring us to dread like what she was about to say, “Oh, and guess whose idea it was? King Moron’s.”

Yosuke then executed protocol dramatic.

“Nooo… King Moron…! Why must you torture us from beyond the grave…!?

“Noooo… King Moron…!” Teddie interrupted.

“You don’t even know who that is.” Kanji brought up.

For once, I actually laughed along with everyone. We talked on and on about the trip until it was time to go. I almost felt excited about this. Not because it was gonna be boring, but because it’d be the first event I went to with friends in a long time. As I walked home, I wondered on and on about how the coming days would play out…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, at the beginning, I COULD have had Dojima interrogate Takari, but... to be honest, I was still low on motivation, so I didn't feel like it. Even rereading the second half wasn't pleasant, I was so unsatisfied with it. The reason was the fact that this chapter copied WAY too many lines directly from the game, a style that may or may not come back to bite me. The other reason I hate this chapter is that b a t - s h i t - n o t h i n g - h a p p e n s - i n - t h i s - o n e . But, I couldn't have skipped this one, nor could I have meshed the important bits into another chapter. Next chapter will be the school trip, and I promise it will be slightly better. I know, this fic is prolly boring as hell except for Chapters 8 and 9, but it'll get better as it goes on.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're finally onto the school trip! Took almost 2 months, but we're here! I had a lot of fun writing Chapters 12 and 13, and by then I had gained plenty motivation. I'd say that we're about a third way through at this point, however it might be closer to halfway through. I had fun writing this chapter, and I think my writing from here on out will start to get a bit more interesting... hopefully. Also, if you're playing P3 and haven't gotten completely through, skip the part in between the end of Mr. Edogawa's lecture, and the next "..." transition.

9/08:

Me, a portion of the group, and a bunch of other classmates were standing in front of an extremely large school, with the principal giving a speech. So far, the class trip was going about the same as we expected, but it was early on, so I hoped that things would change. 

The principal of the school wasn't doing me any favors. His stiff voice made it hard for me to zone out, and he just. Wouldn’t. Stop. TALKING. I was bored out of my mind, when I heard something pretty ironic come from him.

“If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.”

 _Thanks for the advice,_ I thought. _Now I know that being a principal isn’t worth doing._

Chie apparently had the same ideas; she was very loudly yawning, and I couldn’t tell whether she was faking it or not, “Is this principal in love with his own voice or what?”

“You’re telling me,” I muttered.

“Hey!” Yukiko whispered, “He’ll hear you!”

As the presentation went on, the speaker eventually changed to a girl around my age, who claimed to be the Student Council President. This was a much easier voice to ignore, and I took full advantage.

Unfortunately, Yosuke did the exact opposite, “Holy crap, that girl’s unbelievable.”

 _Unbelievable how well I’m not listening to a single word she’s saying._ I thought.

Yosuke kept talking, “She’s the most bespectacled beauty I’ve ever-“

 _“Quiet!”_ I snapped, “I can’t ignore her _and_ you.”

Chie snorted.

Once the girl was done talking, Ms. Kashiwagi told us to split into groups. Obviously our group was picked instantly between us, so we all got together when the girl from before approached us.

“Excuse me, could I bother you for a moment?”

 _You’ve been bothering me all this time and only_ **_now_ ** _you think to ask?_

Fortunately, she wasn’t talking to me. Instead, she was talking to the first person within her line of sights that hinted at an aura of exceptional social capabilities. In other words, Yu. 

After she was done flirting, we went to a class taught by one Mr. Edogawa. As he was taking attendance, I could tell from his voice that he wanted to go home.

“Ugh… Satonaka?”

“Here.”

“Narukami?”

“Right here.”

“...Kujikawa?”

“Present!”

“Ara… _Aragaki?”_

“Yeah.” I answered equally as bored.

He looked absolutely bewildered for no reason. I had no idea why. He wasn’t saying anything for a while, until he cleared his throat and moved on.

After that, he began the lecture. There were two gods that were believed to create this country, Izanagi and Izanami. The two gods were married, and were among the first two gods to be created. However, one day, Izanami gave birth to Kagutsuchi, the fire god. Kagutsuchi ended up burning his own mother to death upon being born. Enraged by this, Izanagi used his sword to slice Kagutsuchi into many pieces, creating new gods with the blood of the fallen fire god. He then set out to reclaim Izanami from the underworld, Yomi. However, upon arriving, Izanagi became terrified of his wife, whose body was completely destroyed in filth. Izanagi abandoned her at the gates of Yomotsu Hirasaka, the entrance to the underworld, trapping her in with a boulder. Izanami claimed that she would kill a thousand humans every day if he left her there. Izanagi retorted by saying he would give life to a thousand five hundred humans in return…

Eventually, the bell rang, and everyone was set free, except for me, because I really can never catch a break, now can I?

“Wait up, Aragaki.”

I turned to him, “Need something?”

“You by any chance know a guy named… **Shinjiro?”**

“Pfft, Shinji? Yeah, he’s my cuz. Haven’t seen him in ages though. Why do you ask?”

“He used to go to this school.”

“Did he?” I did not know that, “That’s surprising. How’s he been? Oh, probably graduated by now.”

“You don’t know how he’s been?”

I shrugged, “Not really. Haven’t talked to him in forever.”

“That explains it.”

He smiled warmly, “You can go now… _Aragaki.”_

I nodded awkwardly and left.

…

What did I expect from Kashiwagi? She probably just looked for a hotel that was cheap and had many rooms, however knowing her, she also could have done this intentionally. The group were all a little skeptical about areas like this, but I knew exactly what it was.

So did the voice coming from the roof.

“Hmm, faster than I expected.” It said mysteriously, “This is quite the hotel.”

I narrowed my eyes, “Guys…”

“If they were to meet me, I wonder. What would the look on Yosuke’s face be…?”

I then slowly turned my body so that it was facing upwards and behind me. As my vision revealed more that was behind me, I questioned whether or not I truly wanted to see…

And then… I was greeted with a startling sight; a round figure was hovering over a building, followed by 2 smaller figures on its left and right.

“What… the hell?”

Everyone followed my gaze, and looked up to the roof above to be greeted with the horrifying sight of… Teddie.

“Hyaaaaa!”

He leaped off of the rooftop with incredible lightness, and promptly crashed on a trash can. He tried casually walking towards us as if nothing was wrong, but we were all shook.

“Teddie!?” Kanji exclaimed, “What’re you doing here?”

“The bear inside of me went stir crazy!” he explained, “I took the slow train all the way here to make it to you guys, but I hung onto the promise Chie-chan made to go out with me!”

“D-Did I promise that?” she seemed to have a hard time remembering, “O-Oh yeah, I do remember saying that...”

“Yipee!!! Is it okay if Yuki-chan and Rise-chan come too?”

“Hey, why don’t we all go?” I suggested, “It’s not like we’ve got anything better to be doing.”

I turned to Rise, “You mentioned knowing the area, right? Maybe you could show us around.”

She smiled, “I’d love to! Leave it to me!”

_She seems awfully enthusiastic…_

“Now now,” a voice called out from inside the hotel, “You kids aren’t bickering about your room allocations, are you?”

It was as if all life had left Teddie, and that no one was home at the time, despite a person being in there and all.

“No,” I snapped, having an idea, “We found this teddy bear on the road, so we’re debating who gets to use it as a sleeping pillow.”

By some divine power, she bought that, “My… it’s so big!”

She turned to me, “You have excellent taste. Go on, hurry inside with it.”

Still not believing she believed that, I shrugged. I walked over to the immobilized Teddie, grabbed him by the waist, and hoisted him on my shoulder, and into the hotel. I could feel him squirming, trying not to move, and I was praying Ms. Kashiwagi wouldn’t notice, even though she was staring at the damn thing like New Year’s fireworks.

“By the way, these rooms are amazing!” she said as I was walking in, “They even have a waterbed!”

_Boy, that’d be fun…_

And then, I heard the three most terrifying words of my life...

“I gotta pee.”

…

After I practically chucked Teddie into the bathrooms, I momentarily got lost attempting to find my room, however after looking in some of them when asking the roommates for my room, I questioned whether I wanted to show up there in the first place. However once I reached a certain floor, I could instantly tell which room they were staying at. Why? Because Yosuke and Kanji were arguing at the top of their lungs.

**Moments earlier…**

“T-This is… a little awkward.”

“Y-Yeah, just a little…”

The two were standing in front of a single waterbed, with Yu sitting with his legs crossed on the only arm chair there, holding a drink in his hand.

“How long are you two gonna stand there?”

“Uhh…” Kanji was slowing down, “Yeah, I guess you and me’ll have to share the bed, there’s no place else to sit.”

“ _Why do you think I wanna share the bed with_ **_you_ ** _?”_

_“No! That’s not what I said! And why do you think I wanna share the bed with you? Get over your damn self!”_

_“Hey look dude. I’m not judging, but-”_

_“Really? Cuz it sure sounds like-”_

I slammed the door open, “WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP?”

The two sad excuses of boys looked towards me, bewildered, “Damn, I could hear you two dumbasses halfway across the hall, be quiet for god’s sake.”

I walked over to one of the cabinets, and spotted a bottle of red liquid, “Holy crap, is this wine?”

“It’s a soft wine.” Yu said as I took one out, “Non-alcoholic.”

“Aww,” I sighed, “Shame. At least wine itself is good with or without the alcohol.”

I managed to yank the cap off, and drank the liquid straight from the bottle, holding it at the most narrow section (it wasn’t a full size wine bottle, so it wasn’t heavy). I sat down in between the counter and heater, since ‘there was no place else to sit’.

Just then, Teddie emerged from the room, apparently just having taken a shower. As soon as he spotted the waterbed, he decided that it was a perfectly good opportunity to body slam on top of it.

And it would’ve been a perfectly good idea if Yosuke and Kanji weren’t in the way.

“Freakin’ bear…” Yosuke muttered.

Kanji growled, “ _What was that for?”_

But Teddie had his sights set on the buttons by the dashboard. He began to press 5 buttons on the pad, while yelling ‘bear’ at every press. One of them made the bed spin, one of them turned on the overhead lights, one of them made the lights disco, one of them turned on music, and the last one turned on the heater, which I was sitting next to.

As the warm heat enveloped my body, I began to realize how cold I was. As I saw the three boys absolutely flop around the bed, with me and Yu safely out of harm’s way, I began to see through the stupidity of the situation, and felt more at ease with the light-hearted tone. Whether it was the wine I just drank, the heater, the calmness of my state, or my lack of sleep, I felt myself drifting off. As I slowly went to sleep, I somehow managed to keep holding onto the bottle, making it almost seem as if I was passed out drunk. 

“I’m posting this on my wall.”

Yu’s new background picture was a picture of Teddie smiling for the camera, and holding up a peace sign, Yosuke looking extremely embarrassed and sitting in an uncomfortable position relative to Teddie, Kanji flat-out dead, and me conked out with a wine bottle in my hand, with the arm supported on my knee.

9/09:

“Here we are!” Rise announced, “Iwatodai Station!”

I took a look around. It seemed like a good place to hang out, with shops spanning three floors upon a balcony. Some of them looked like bookstores, others were shops of some kinds. We split up into three groups; Yu and Yukiko went to the Sweet Shop, Chie, Yosuke, and Teddie went to the Beef Bowl Shop, and Kanji, Rise, and I went to the manga store. 

The manga store was packed; different types of manga lined the shelves with an impressively large quantity of them. They had all types of manga; Action, Romance, Yuri/Yaoi, Mystery, you name it. Not only was the quantity great, but the variety and quality was top tier as well.

“Oh my god, I never knew they made a _third_ one!”

Rise had spotted her favorite comic, and was brandishing it for everyone to see, “You guys, look! The manga adaptation of The Timid Teacher! They finally got the third one out!”

“That’s… great, Rise-san…” Kanji stammered.

I shrugged, “The books are usually the best. Every time they adapt a piece of franchise onto another aspect of media, the quality is usually lost. By the time the anime comes out, everyone’ll hate The Timid Teacher already.”

Rise pouted, “Geez, Takari-san. Can’t you just let me have fun for a while?”

“Sorry…”

Kanji turned around, and instantly spotted something, “Is this…?”

Rise had a gleam in her eyes, “Whatcha got there, Kanji?”

“Uhh, n-nothing!”

She grinned, “You suuuure…?”

“I-I said it’s nothing, dammit!” Kanji was losing composure, “ ‘s none of your business anyway!”

Unfortunately for him, Rise managed a quick peek. Her eyes widened, “Oh my- I never knew you were into Ya-”

“I SAID CAN IT, DAMMIT!”

I sighed, “No, you didn’t,”

I then turned back to the manga section, when I spotted something. No. It couldn’t be. Wait… was it…?

Holy shit, this is a miracle.

I instantly grabbed it, and held it up with shaky hands.

“Finally…” I muttered under my breath, “I have them all.”

“What do you got there, Takari?”

I whirled around and pressed the manga to my chest, afraid of anyone taking this from me.

She merely giggled, “No need to be so shy, geez. You can tell me.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Seeing as how that went with Kanji, I won’t take my chances.”

She shrugged, “Oh well. Your loss.”

She walked away, allowing me space to take the manga off of my chest to look at it once more.

“More like… my gain.” I whispered with a grin on my face.

…

After we all regrouped, Yu and Yukiko were standing directly next to each other, as everyone else was talking.

“Dude,” Chie shared to Yosuke, “Their steak was super good. It almost rivaled Aiya’s.”

Yosuke sighed, “You’ll enjoy _anything_ meat related, you carnivore.”

“That’s not true!” Chie protested, “The steaks at Junes aren’t great. I can at least say that!”

“You only say that because they’re cheap!”

As the two bickered on and on, Teddie and Rise had apparently formed a manga discussion debate.

“So, Rise-chan,” Teddie asked innocently, “What’d you find at the manga store?”

“Get a load of this!” Rise bragged. She whipped out the Timid Teacher manga, “BAM!”

“Wow!” Despite his excitement, he seemed to have little grasp of the significance of it, “Is that The Timid Teacher?”

“Oh, you bet it is!” Rise smirked, “I didn’t even know they made this one yet!”

“Made which one yet?”

Rise sighed, “I forgot you haven’t read The Timid Teacher yet.”

She looped an arm around his shoulders, “Here, I’ll show you the manga, that’s a better starting point.”

Yukiko and Yu were whispering something to each other, so I didn’t quite hear them.

Meanwhile, me and Kanji were talking about various things.

“Dude,” I started, “I’m deadass hungry right now, I’m starting to regret not going to any of the food places.”

“Ma practically stuffs me full, so I’m used to a lot of food,” Kanji described, “This long since lunch is making me crabby.”

“You sure she’s not your gramma?”

He laughed, “She’s old enough to be.”

I laughed as well, “Same as my dad. I start calling people old when they’re 65. He’s 58 and looks like those digits were reversed.”

We both laughed again.

“Hey, guys, it’s getting dark out.” Rise said, “Let’s all go to a restaurant to eat. After that… we’re going to have a little fun at night.”

I didn’t know what that meant at the time, but I thought little of it. I went on into the place where we had dinner, where we all grouped up in fours. After dinner, Rise took us to a mall of some sorts, and led us to a purple building. In script neon letters, it read “Club Escapade” on top.

“Step right up, folks!” Rise announced, “Drinks are on me!”

Had I known what I was walking into, I would’ve thought twice about following my friends…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lotta stuff to say here. First, I had Takari not actually realize what Mr. Edogawa mentioned after his lecture, and if you read the uptop notes, you'll know why. Second, that's right; Chapter 13 is the infamous club scene. Third, the manga that Takari got wasn't actually among any of the categories I mentioned, so not Action, Romance, or Mystery. You'll just have to either take a shot in the dark and guess, or wait until a certain chapter... Fourth, I know, I know, the hotel room scene was only in the anime, and I said this was based on P4 Vanilla, but some of the elements from the anime are really good in my opinion. Also, as for Takari getting conked out in the hotel room... I'm not an artist, so I can't exactly draw where he'd be in Yu's photo, but I can create an image of where he'd theoretically be... https://imgur.com/a/b7FTM1x  
> Edit: Thx for 666 hits, the devil is knocking on my door  
> Edit 2: I changed the title again for end game reasons


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The infamous King's Game scene has finally come upon us. Took long enough. This time, the entire chapter will be set entirely in Club Escapade, and I even did the honors of making it about as long as Chapter 8, so in other words, the longest one in the series.

As soon as I walked in, I instantly knew what this place was. Disco music was playing in the background, people were dancing like a german doctor was coming to saw off their legs, and a bar sat to our left.

The group seemed to think that this was good, surprisingly.

“Wow…” Teddie said, “So  _ this _ is what a club looks like!”

“Haven’t seen anything like this back home…” Kanji noticed.

“Oh, it’s there,” I notified him, “You just gotta look in the right places.”

“And how would you know that…?” Rise asked suspiciously.

“Do you really want that question answered?”

Our squabble was cut off by a blue-haired boy walking down from the second floor, “Is it permitted for high school students such as yourselves to be here?”

I burped, “You’re one to talk.”

“W-Wait, Naoto’s here!?” Kanji exclaimed.

“Well, if third and second years came on this trip, I suppose you’d be here too.” Yosuke guessed.

Naoto made a break for the door, but Yukiko stopped him.

“Hey, wait!”

He turned towards the girl, “Yes?”

“Why don’t you join us?” she offered, “You seem like a lonely person.”

Naoto seemed taken aback by this, “Are you… asking me to stay?”

“Of course!” Rise said cheerfully, “I was eager to talk to you last time. How does one become a detective at such a young age?”

Naoto shrugged, “Very well.”

“Wait here,” Rise told us, “I’ll go reserve the area upstairs.”

As she walked off, I turned to Kanji, “Looks like we’re having a guest.”

“Y-Yep…” Kanji seemed beat up for some reason.

“You alright, man?” Yosuke asked, concerned, “What’s wrong, stomach pains?”

Kanji took a peek at Naoto, and immediately stared back at the ground, “T-That ain’t it…”

I gave him a confused look, and turned to Yosuke, “S’up with him?”

“Long story.” Yosuke painfully said.

“Too long…” Yu agreed.

Eventually, Rise came back, and we all headed upstairs. The nine of us sat down on the couches facing a glass table, with Yosuke, Rise, and Naoto sitting on the short couch, and the rest of us sitting on the longer couch. I was all the way at the end, which wasn’t fun.

Rise then began to order drinks.

“What do you guys want?” she asked.

“W-Wait, isn’t that expensive?” Chie protested.

“It’s fine, now are you gonna order or what?” Rise responded in a playful tone.

We all ordered our drinks, and hung out. Chie once again asked Rise if she was sure it wasn’t too expensive.

“I told you, it’s fine.” Rise assured her, “Two years ago, I did a gig in this club, but the power went out, and it was cancelled.”

She continued on, “They still owe me for that, so I told them to put this one on the house.”

“Really?” Chie seemed more at ease, “I may as well order more.”

“Wheeeuuuuu!” ...why is Teddie talking like that? “I’m not gonna hold back either! Let’s drink this place dry!”

Kanji took one look at him, “Dude… you sound even weirder today…”

“He’s  _ not _ normally like this?” I asked, bewildered.

“Aww, Kanji. You’re so…”

Then he got an idea, “Hmm… Kanji… I Kanj-ecture that something’s up!”

_ So do I… _

My thoughts were only proven right; Yukiko, who always seemed like a very uptight, easy-going, and sweet person, started laughing her ass off in an unladylike manner.

“Yukiko!” Chie said, “Geez, calm down. It’s not  _ that _ funny…”

“Wait…” Yosuke had a sinking pit in his stomach, “Is there alcohol in these…?”

Rise scoffed, “I told them to give us soft drinks, they’re non-alcoholic!”

Yosuke didn’t seem too assured by that, so Rise tried harder, “I TOLD them. Really, I did!”

I shrugged, “Some bars think that “soft” means low in alcohol, not completely dry of it.”

“ ‘s this seriously booze?” Kanji questioned, “But the smell’s…”

He turned to Yu, “Hey, what do you think?”

Yu gave him a dark chuckle, “Of course it’s not alcohol.”

His eyes then gave off a slight twinkle, “ _ There’s no doubt in my mind…” _

I looked from Teddie, to Yukiko, to Rise, and then to Yu.

_ Shit… am I gonna have to carry someone? _

Rise them stood up, and wobbled up to the table, “King’s Gaaaaaaa *burp* aaame!”

Everyone looked at her like she had three heads, “I wanna play the adult games! All those *hic* parties I went to probably get a lot funner after I go home!”

She weaved her hand in an arc, almost knocking herself over, “Morons!”

She turned to me, “Takari! Get the chopsticks ready!”

“Why the hell should I listen to you?” I argued.

She burped, “The King’s laws are absolute!”

“But we haven’t even-”

I don’t know how, but SOMEHOW, Yu managed to get ahold of nine chopsticks, and handed them to Rise. But he didn’t just hand them to her; he knelt down in front of her, and presented them like it was on a gold platter.

She smiled, “Good boy…”

And she gave him headpats…

What, you expected me to go further into detail?

“Umm…” Chie began, “What’s the King’s Game again…?”

“Ok… so-” Yukiko began.

“Shut up.” I told her, “You can barely speak.”

I cleared my throat, “A bunch of numbered chopsticks get handed out, but the red one’s the King. The King has the ability to order any number to do whatever they want. But no one knows who has which number until after the order’s been given out.”

“You’re such an adult, Takari.” Rise complimented, “Where’d you learn that stuff anyway?”

“Do you really want that question answered?” I repeated.

“Geez…” Yosuke grumbled.

“Come on, everyone draw already!” Rise was getting impatient.

I shrugged, and drew a stick, followed by everyone else. I found myself with number two as a chopstick.

“Ok,” Rise sure was impatient, “So who’s the King?”

Unfortunately, Teddie was the one who perked up, “Teddie’s is red… so I’m King!”

_ Uh-oh... _

“Hmm…” Teddie seemed to be lost in thought.

“Come on,” Rise whined, “Make up your mind already!”

Teddie (unfortunately) didn’t disappoint, “I, the King… command thee to smooch thy King… without delay. Please, god. Grant me a girl…”

_ Please, god. Grant him a girl… _

“NUMBER THREE!”

Kanji stood up, and screamed, “NO WAY! PICK ANOTHER NUMBER!”

He shrugged, “Two then.”

My heart rate doubled.

“No take backs!” Yosuke claimed.

_ Remind me to thank Yosuke once we’re done. _ I thought as my heart rate dropped back down.

Teddie simply chucked, and seductively turned to a petrified Kanji, “So you were after my bear fur! But you win. Go ahead, I’m all yours.”

He then leaned in, “Please be gentle…  _ senpai.” _

He then tackled Kanji in an appropriately named bear hug. From the corner of the room, struggling sounds ensued, followed by a dragged out smooch sound, capped off by Kanji punching Teddie so hard it sounded like a gunshot, causing all of us to wince.

“Woo! 2 down!” Rise drunkenly yelled.

Since I was sitting next to Yu at the time, I slid over, and took Teddie’s previous place, landing me next to a drunk Yukiko.

“Oh…” Chie began, “So it’s  _ that _ type of game…?”

Rise stood up and yelled, “On to round two!”

Since we were down two, I threw out numbers seven and eight before scrambling them up. This time, I got assigned number five.

Yu suddenly stood up abruptly. He then took out his chopstick, brandished it, all while light was reflecting off of his glasses, “Guess who…?”

Chie breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank god… someone more reasonable this time.”

“Don’t count on it.” I warned her.

Yu then went into the back room, and took out a single throwing dart. Conveniently, there was a dart board facing us, and judging from the current situation, I could only imagine what was to come next.

“Please make the demand more reasonable…” Yosuke complained.

“After sucking face?” Yukiko giggled, “No way! Gotta take it up a notch!”

“How did I get myself roped into this…” Naoto wondered aloud.

Yu was still aiming at this point. He had unbuttoned his shirt, and was showing off his abs. He then gave another dark chuckle, “Number three…”

He threw the dart at the board. With perfect accuracy, it landed on the number three, “Number three hugs me…”

Everyone went into deathly silence, except for Yukiko, who was cheering, “Woohoo! Funsies with the King!”

Rise crossed her arms, “Hmph. Lucky…”

Yukiko wobbled over to Yu (who had sat down), plopped onto his lap, and hugged him around the neck.

“Wh- Yukiko!!!” Chie exclaimed.

“Wh- dude!” Yosuke protested, “You have no idea how much I wanna trade places with you.”

I snorted, “Trade with the boy or the girl?”

“WH-? Of course I’m talking about trading places with Narukami!” Yosuke stammered.

The girls weren’t faring much better.

“C’mon, Chie!” Yukiko teased playfully, “How else am I gunna hug him when he’s sitting down?”

She squeezed tighter, “See, Chie? You gotta really get into it. See what I mean?” Yukiko said in the middle of a fit of short giggles.

If the couch that Naoto, Yosuke, and Rise were sitting on was any longer, I would have sat next to Yosuke long enough to hear a “Lucky bastard…” under his breath.

Suddenly, Teddie and Kanji came out from outside the room. Teddie had a purple spot the size of an orange on his head, and he took Kanji’s previous seat, since I took Teddie’s original seat.

A trembling Kanji walked in next. Unlike Teddie, he did not take kindly to his seat being taken. But he didn’t say anything. Instead, he grabbed both of Teddie’s shoulders, applied some force, and literally threw Teddie onto the ground as he sat in his previous seat.

“Dude…” Yosuke risked, “The hell happened?”

“Shut it.” Kanji muttered.

“On to round three!”

Since Kanji and Teddie were back in the game, I fished out numbers seven and eight again. I drew the stick that read number one this time, so I was a little concerned that I might get picked.

Even worse; Rise got the next chopstick this time, so who knows what she’d ask.

“Yay!!! I’m the King!”

She then looked out over the sea of nervous and drunk teens with a gleam in her eyes.

She giggled, “I dare number 8 to… play a game with me…”

“Number eight… oh, that's me!” Chie realized.

Rise merely smiled, “Oh, you’ll do  _ great _ in this game. I’m glad it’s you…”

“W-What game is it…?” Chie asked nervously.

“The Pocky Game!” Rise announced.

Of all the things I expected to happen, Chie dealing with this quite well was not one of them.

“Um, ok…?” she mostly just seemed confused rather than anxious.

Rise smirked, “Glad to see you’re okay with something so…”

“So… what?” Chie asked, very nervous.

I sighed, “I don’t think you understand what you just got into.”

“Huh…?”

Chie looked at me blankly. Since Yukiko was still on Yu’s lap, this left me right next to her. I leaned in, and whispered it in her ear.

“W-WHAT!?”

Jesus, getting that close was a mistake.

“B-But, we’ll be-”

_ “That’s the point of the game!” _ I exasperated.

Rise smirked once more, “Well…?”

Teddie, after being knocked to the ground, came out with the pocky stick, and threw it to Rise, who caught it- no she didn’t, she’s drunk, what do you expect,  _ functioning _ depth perception?

“C’mere, Chie.” Rise giggled.

“I, I mean, I dunno if I-”

Rise was towering over her. She interrupted her by shoving the pocky stick in her mouth, and clamping down on the other end with her teeth.

Rise took one bite, starting the chain of doom.

Chie took one extremely small bite, cheeks burning red.

Rise took a massive bite, leaving their noses touching.

Chie was shaking so badly, she ended up dropping the pocky stick.

Rise pouted, “Why’d you do that, Chie!? It was just getting-”

“I’m sorry… I’m just… not…”

Chie cried out, and covered her hands in her face.

Naoto sighed, “Are you serious?”

“You’re seriously not jealous, dude?” Yosuke said in surprise.

“On to round four!” Rise said once more.

“A-Actually, Rise, I think I’m gonna skip out on this one…” Chie said shakily, “I think some saliva got in…”   
This time when I drew, I found myself as number seven this time. I had a streak of three going for me, so I could only hope the odds would be in my favor.

Yosuke was looking at his chopstick with wide eyes, and I didn’t know whether to be relieved or concerned about that.

“Ok, so… I’m the King.” he concluded.

“Ooh,” Rise teased, “Good choice…”

Yosuke pondered for a minute, “I’m still not quite sure what to ask…”

Rise giggled for the THOUSANDTH TIME THIS NIGHT DAMMIT, “Yosuke-kuuuuun.”

He looked towards her, “H-Huh?”

“You know you can order them to do anything Youske-kuuuun.”

“After all,” she leaned in close, “The King’s orders…”

“Are absolute!” he finished.

Ok, that answers that question: be concerned.

“Hmm…” Yosuke pondered with a dark look, “I dare… number three and number seven to drink from each other’s glasses!”

Naoto’s eyes flew open. To be honest, that kid should feel  _ lucky. _ He got the most tame one of them all, and he played for four rou- oh shit I’m seven.

I stood up and cleared my throat, “Whelp, this’ll be fun.”

Since Chie was gone, I slid over once more, and was now at the corner, facing Naoto. Without hesitation, I grabbed his glass, took a swig, and held it out to him.

“Pucker up, flutterboy.”

He hesitated for a bit, but eventually took the glass, and took a tiny sip.

“More.” I insisted.

I tapped the glass as he was in the middle of his sip, causing more liquid to spill down his throat. He eventually finished the glass, so I took it back from him. I then swallowed all the ice cubes in one go. To top it off, I leaned in, and whispered an apology in his ear.

“Ooh, me next!” Yukiko exclaimed, “I’m the King! Or rather, the Queen!”

“You didn’t even draw a chopstick!” Yosuke protested.

“Hmm… I dare…” Yukiko seemed to not hear Yosuke, “Aha! I dare number one to-”

She slumped back in her chair and started snoring loudly.

“Oh, for god’s sake…” I complained.

“Are you a pack of imbeciles!?” Naoto questioned.

Teddie shot up, “You bet!”

“How even did you become so inebriated? This isn’t alcohol.”

Rise giggled, “Good one Naoto!”

“No, I confirmed it. No alcohol has been served here since a rash of drunk driving last year.”

No one said anything for a little bit. His words seemed farfetched, but… were they?

The silence was broken by a fit of laughter, but this time, they came from  _ me. _ The laughter was even more intense tha Yukiko’s fits of giggles. Everyone looked at me in bewilderment as I continued to laugh myself silly.

“Oh Naoto…” I managed in between loud chuckles, “Never change, you hear me? Never change…”

“Oh no…” Yosuke complained, “Have we got another one?”

“No…” I said, starting to calm down.

_ Jeez, has the alcohol really got to me? I know I drank a lot, but I should snap out of it. _

I turned to Naoto,  _ “Seriously!? _ You honestly believed that? ‘No alcohol since last year’ my ass! They probably told you that just cuz you’re a kid!”

“W-What?” Naoto seemed confused.

I then finally stopped laughing, “Yeah... no. Of course this is alcohol. They lied to you because they didn’t want the trouble. And since you were a kid, they thought they could get away with it.”

I smiled, “And they almost did.”

Naoto seemed to have trouble processing that information.

Chie on the other hand was more logical, “But… how come only four of us got drunk and not all of us.”

I then finally broke out of my trance and delved into a much more serious tone, “That’s because of the glass size.”

“Huh?” Everyone asked.

I cleared my throat, “Judging from the glasses these were served in, these are most likely cocktails. Now, the intensity of certain cocktails actually depend on the size of the glass. Larger size glasses are usually lower in alcohol, representing the steady build to getting slowly drunker and drunker as the night goes on. Smaller glasses are higher in alcohol for when adults just want to get it over with, and become drunk immediately.”

“Wow…” Rise began, “You’re such an adult, Takari. Only adults know that much about alco-”

Aaaand she’s out.

“Ugh… great,” Kanji complained, “Now how’re we gonna get back when we’ve got two passed-out drunks?”

“Wait,” Chie interrupted, “If what Takari says is true, then how come Teddie’s been drinking from a big glass?”

“He’s a featherweight.” I answered immediately.

“No!” Teddie chimed in, “Teddie’s no feather! Teddie’s a Teddie! And he’s not going anywhere! Let’s drink till morning!” 

Followed by giggles…

"What about you, Takari-san?" Kanji asked, "You're drinking from a small glass."

I blankly looked at my glass with utter confusion visible on my face, _"...what?"_ I whispered.

“I… can’t believe it…” Naoto still seemed shaken up, “Have they truly lied to me…?”

“Ah, don’t sweat it, kid,” I told the boy, “Everyone gets manipulated once or twice…”

“By the way… I’d like to know how you are in possession of so much knowledge regarding alcohol. Being a detective and all, it might have the potential to further assist me in cases relative to the topic.”

“That’s a polite way of saying you wanna know more alcohol tips.”

He sighed, “That’s not-”

“Alright, I’ll tell you. But you gotta tell me something in return, ok?”

“I can agree to these terms.”

“Ok. So… back in the day, and I’m talkin’ medieval times, people didn’t exactly have the most consistent source of clean water. However, alcohol was high in demand for vikings, and soldiers, especially beer. Since they had more of it, for a time, they opted to use beer as a substitute for water.”

“Interesting… Now, here comes my part of the deal.”

He cleared his throat, “The Shirogane family has been detectives for generations now. We lend our powers to the police from time to time. In days gone by, when there were no crime scene investigators, consulting detectives was considered more valuable. Thus, my grandfather sill has a strong connection with the police, and looks after me , despite my youth and inexperience. But investigators are well versed in science and medicine, so I must further my studies. I figured that alcohol was one place to start.”

He turned to me, “Speaking of which, how do you know so much about alcohol?”

“I am blessed with an alcoholic for a father.”

“That explains it…”

I felt a tap on my shoulder, “Uhh, Senpai?”

I turned to Kanji.

“We… have a problem…”

He pointed to Teddie, who was passed out as well.

My jaw dropped, “Are you serious?”

Kanji simply shrugged.

I sighed, “You carry Ted, Chie carries Yukiko, I’ll carry Rise.”

I turned to Yosuke, “It’d be safe to make sure Narukami doesn’t stumble around everywhere, so keep an eye on him for me, will ya?”

I took one final look out amongst the room, “God, what a night…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I COULD'VE done a scene with Takari and Rise since it's the main relationship in the title... BUT I DIDN'T, BECAUSE I DON'T - F E E L - LIKE IT. I mentioned that I'd expand on the King's Game a little, since in the original game I was disappointed that they only lasted 2 rounds, so I extended it to four. Takari is also a MAJOR heavyweight, since he drank the high-alcohol drinks without getting TOO drunk (Edit: after rereading that sentence, it almost sounded as if Takari was a heavyweight as in he was fat. This is not the case; he's actually a lightweight in terms of weight). By the way, those alcohol facts I actually learned from Catherine, so if they're inaccurate, blame the game. Chapters 14, 15, and 16 will be for Naoto's arc exclusively, but after that... things will pick up.


	14. Chapter 14

9/13:

“Hey, did you see the show on TV last night?” Chie asked.

“I did.” Yukiko responded, “Naoto-kun was on, wasn’t he?”

A portion of the group was talking after school, walking out the front door. Apparently, Naoto gained his own segment on a news show last night.

“What, that thing about the case?” Yosuke assumed, “Come on, we’re the ones who caught the killer.”

“I never guessed that Naoto was the one to go after the spotlight,” Yu assumed.

They rounded a corner to find an engine being turned on. Or at least, an engine attempting to turn on. I was sitting in the driver’s seat, having attempted this for 5 minutes now. At this rate, I was ready to tape the key in, grab a wrench, and slam the hood.

“Oh yeah,” Yosuke noticed, “I forgot Takari-san can drive. He must be a lot older than us.”

“I hear that he’s turning 19 soon.” Yukiko shared.

“19!?” Rise questioned, “What’s an almost 19-year-old doing in high school?”

I then spotted the group outside, and gave up on starting my car.

I rolled down the window, “S’up guys?”

“Yo!” Yosuke called out, “We were just talking about Naoto-kun. Apparently he appeared on TV last night.”

My eyebrows narrowed, “Which program?”

“Not the Midnight Channel,” Rise explained, “Just some news network.”

I still wasn’t put at ease, “Didn’t you guys tell me that the targets get shown on the Midnight Channel because of their appearances on TV?”

“You mean…” Chie began.

I stepped out of the car, “It’s entirely possible that Naoto-kun might be the next target. The entire town won’t shut up about him.”

“You think so?” Chie asked, “I mean… it’s gonna rain tomorrow night, so i don’t see the harm in checking.”

“I think that’s all we can do at this point,” Yosuke admitted, “Just wait and see, and hope that things don’t go south.”

I nodded, and got back into my car, before remembering that it was a piece of shit, “Hey, Yu. C’mere for a sec.”

I threw him a wrench as he walked towards me, “Take this, and slam it on the hood once I start it.”

He reluctantly took the wrench, and walked over to the hood. I turned the key once more.

The car’s engine attempted to start, but the engine never quite roared to light. Narukami then slammed the wrench on the engine.

Instantly, the engine sound’s pattern sped up, and I heard the satisfying sound of the tiny roar of the engine, and the sound of it idling.

“Thanks, man.”

…

After I was done with my shift, I swung by the Shiroku Store to get some materials I forgot to get earlier today. Surprisingly, it was getting a little darker outside, and I couldn’t remember what time they closed. However, once I pulled up to the store, I noticed something was wrong; a neon purple sign replaced the normal sign that said “Shiroku Store”. It now read “Shiroku Pub”.

_A pub? I didn’t know they had one of those here. Might as well swing by…_

I got out of my car, and walked in. I was greeted with a short, lump woman with makeup and lipstick tending to what looked like a pub. There were 6 seats at the bar, and a beautiful fish tank was facing in front of me. The wall behind the hostess was filled with exotic alcohols of all kinds.

The hostess spotted me, “Welcome to the Shiroku Pub.”

I took a look around, “Didn’t this used to be a convenience store?”

“I turn this place into a nightclub after normal hours end,” she responded, “Now, why don’t you take a seat?”

I reluctantly sat down at one of the seats in the booth. Only one other guy was sitting down. He had black, messy hair, had a cigarette in his mouth, and was holding a rum and cola. He looked around 30.

I turned to the hostess, “I didn’t know you let kids like me in here.”

She merely shrugged, “Eh. I usually kick out high schoolers, but you look old enough.”

I chuckled, “I’m only 18. I still can’t drink.”

“Well, I’ll fish out some of the non-alcoholic ones.” she assured me, “You’re more than welcome to stay.”

“Thanks,” I responded, “Anything to get away from my life at home…”

I had a slight feeling that this was going to be the place I spent most of my evenings.

I found myself trying different types of non-alcoholic beverages similar to the ones I had at the hotel on that school trip. I also talked with some of the other guys at the booth, who were surprised at my age. As the hours blew by, I eventually found myself looking at a watch that read 10:00.

_Damn, 2 and a half hours already? I gotta get back._

I stood up, “Sorry, but I gotta run.”

“Come again!” the hostess called out to me as I walked out.

…

_Jesus, the last time I did this, it was almost exactly a month ago…_

I was standing in front of the unplugged TV, raindrops disturbing the quiet and tense nature of the scene before me. I had been drenched with not only the rain, but also a sense of dread as I discovered what I needed to do because of it. I stood there, staring directly into my reflection once more, awaiting the results...

And then, the clock struck twelve.

Once again, the atmosphere became darker, the TV lit up, and it displayed a foggy background. However, I was sure that there was a figure residing within the TV. I couldn’t tell who it was based off of looks, but I didn’t need to. I had a pretty good guess of who was there based on logic…

9/14:

“So… about the Midnight Channel last night…” Yosuke started.

We were all gathered in class 2-2. The reason we were in this specific classroom was because 4 of our classmates shared this one classroom, so it only made sense to meet here. 

“I saw…” I told him, “You think it was…”

Kanji exhaled through his nose, “Dammit! Is that guy really next?”

“We dunno,” Chie assured him, “Teddie said no one’s entered the other side, right?”

“That’s because there’s a grace period.” 

Everyone turned to me, “Targets don’t get kidnapped immediately, remember? There’s always a difference of 1 to 2 days.”

“Does this mean… we still have a shot at preventing him from bein’ kidnapped?” Kanji wondered aloud.

 **“No,”** I snapped.

Everyone looked at me in confusion, “What do you mean?” Yukiko asked.

“I’m not saying no as in we don’t have the ability to prevent it. I’m saying no as in we _won’t_ be.”

“What!?” Yosuke snapped, “But we _know_ who’s next!”

“Doesn’t matter,” I told him, “You’ve managed to save Yukiko, Kanji, and Rise, this shouldn’t be a problem for you.”

“That doesn’t mean that we _know_ we can do it!” Rise protested.

“What would the alternative be?” I said sharply, “Telling him, causing him to try and prevent it, and ending up getting himself killed?”

“Remember what you once told me…?” Yu asked, “ ‘If there’s even a slight chance to prevent this, then I’m taking it.’ ”

He turned to me, “What ever happened to _that_ attitude?”

“Things change, alright?” I told him, “I only got out alive and not kidnapped because I was prepared. That kid is a foot shorter than me, and probably a hell of a lot more weak than me. If we tell him, and he tries to pull anything funny, the killer’ll just pull out his gun again. Except this time, he’ll **win**.”

I turned to the group, “Our only option is to wait and see.”

“You just wanna leave him to get kidnapped?” Kanji asked me, “We can at least warn him! What if he gets hurt?”

“You, Rise, and Yukiko haven’t gotten any major injuries, so that’s unlikely,” I explained, “And that kid’s smart; if he so much as gets a _hint_ about it, he’ll end up trying to run from it.”

“And what’s so bad about that?” Rise asked.

“I got stabbed when I tried to do the same.”

A wave of silence washed over the group. It felt terrible to have the power to have the power to save someone, however to be hopeless to warn them. But, this feeling among the group was familiar; they had tried to do the same thing when I had naively tried to stop the killer. Granted, I of course didn’t know the truth behind it, but Naoto is closer on the mark; he’ll figure it out.

Unfortunately, he might have ended up making the same mistakes as I had…

…

“And then the owner of the bar turned into my landlord!”

I was talking with one of the guys at the pub. Ever since I discovered this place yesterday, I had already spent quite some time there talking with the many guests. It was a place where I truly felt like myself, a home away from home, if you will.

“How did that happen?” I asked with slight interest.

“Man, I don’t even know anymore…” the man sounded uncertain, “First all of this crazy shit happened with my love life, then Boss started giving me dating advice of all people, and now he’s the owner of my apartment building, as well as the bar I regularly visit.”

“That’s crazy man…”

I wasn’t really paying attention. I was more focused on the clock attached to my wrist. It read 10:30.

“Shit, man, I gotta go.”

I stood up, “I’ll catch you later. Right now I got some business to attend to.”

He grinned, “Oh, so _that_ kind of business.”

“Heh, heh. But no, not like that. This is more serious.”

He nodded, “Take care.”

That night, I went directly home, upstairs, and into bed, where I took a power nap with an alarm for 11:55, with a 1 minute snooze button.

When the clock finally struck twelve, I experienced the familiar feeling of the Midnight Channel coming on.

A very clear image of what looked to be a laboratory of some kind was shown to me, with an operating table filled with claws and saws extending down from the roof.

Slowly, a very small figure in a lab coat that was 4 sizes too large emerged. It was wearing a blue hat, and upon closer inspection, I recognized the figure to be Naoto. However, there was something wrong: similar to Rise and Mitsuo, his eyes were now the color yellow. 

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! I am the Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane.”

If there was even a slight hint at me being wrong, it was gone now.

“Tonight, I will partake in a life changing experiment which I shall document, for your sakes.”

He turned towards the camera with a sinister look in his yellow eyes, “It is a forbidden yet wonderful body alteration experience!”

_Jesus Christ, this looks like a low budget sci-fi film…_

“From the chosen day forth, I shall walk a completely new path in life!”

And then, the screen faded to black…

Judging from my knowledge of the TV World, I knew that this must be their Shadow, and once their shadow clearly showed up on the Midnight Channel, this meant that they were already in the TV.

I felt myself breathing a sigh of relief; I would have never forgiven myself if I had warned him, and caused him to possibly get seriously hurt or killed like me.

It was a terrible thing to breathe a sigh of relief for, but at least things didn’t turn out for the worse…

9/15:

“You all saw the Midnight Channel last night, correct?” Yosuke assumed.

Everyone nodded their heads, but Chie was the first to speak up, “Yep. Ted, what’s the verdict?”

“I think I smell someone,” he confirmed.

“That settles it,” I said, “Naoto’s been kidnapped…”

“H-Hey guys…” Yukiko started, “Remember how Naoto-kun told us that the people who get shown on TV are the next victims…?”

“He said that?” I apparently wasn’t present when he said that.

“Oh, you’re right!” Chie confirmed, “But, something’s odd about his appearance on TV. Everyone else was interviewed on TV. Other people were asked to be shown, but Naoto appeared on TV himself.”

Yosuke looked intrigued, “You’re saying he-”

“Showed himself on TV to get himself kidnapped!?” Kanji finished.

This was a sudden turn of events. Turns out I had underestimated Naoto’s knowledge: he showed himself on TV to get kidnapped, and used himself as bait. I thought he would try to run from his fate, but he did the exact opposite.

I couldn’t tell which one was more stupid.

“That’s crazy!” Chie commented, “He could have been killed!”

I shrugged, “I’m sure he wouldn’t have. He’d know better than to struggle against a fully grown adult, and all the killer wants to do is throw people into the TV.”

I turned to everyone, “He knows that if he kills them outside of the TV, he’ll leave evidence.”

“What about you?” Yu asked.

“He didn’t fight to kill me. He fought in self defense, and then went for the kill after I got knocked down. I don’t blame him for making that mistake, with so little time to react.”

“Wait,” Kanji said, “You say it like you’re the attacker, not the killer.”

“Well, I technically _was_ the attacker, he just _caused_ me to attack him.

“Even still,” Yosuke sighed, “That was way too dangerous of Naoto…”

“He said this wasn’t a game to him either,” Rise said, “This is my fault, I’m the one who said that to him.”

Kanji slammed the table, causing all of us to jump, “IDIOT! Why didn’t that bastard just tell us!?”

“He doesn’t trust us…” I informed him, “He doesn’t think we’ll be of much use if we try and stop him.”

“I know… that son of a-”

Instead of finishing that sentence, he stood up and slammed his fists down on the table once more, “Argh, to hell with this! That stupid kid’s gonna die in there if we sit on our asses and discuss what we know. We gotta find him!”

“Alright, geez.” Yosuke surrendered, “We get that you're upset, we’ll leave immediately.”

“By the way,” I mentioned, “Since I don’t have this Persona, I won’t be of much use. Is there any way I can help besides fighting?”

“That’s right!” Chie remembered, “You managed to avoid getting thrown in, so you don’t have one!”

Yu placed his hand on his chin, deep in thought, “it’s too dangerous to go into the TV World, and we already have enough supplies. I think it’d be best to stay out of this.”

“Well, how did you guys manage before you got your powers?”

“Narukami kinda just awakened his Persona immediately,” Chie said, “It was as if the sense of danger pulled it out of him.”

“Hmm…” A conclusion eventually dawned on me, “Well, I think it’d be best just to swing by, take a look around, see the danger. Then I’d only go in every once in a while.”

“I dunno…” Yosuke warned, “It still seems dangerous…”

“Well, at least let me go _in_!”

“Fine.” Yu agreed, “But be careful.”

I nodded, “Please. I’m more than smart enough to do that based on what happened last time.”

With that, we got up from our spot on the roof, walked over to the electronics department, made sure that no one was around, and prepared to enter.

First Yu entered, then Yosuke, followed by Chie and Yukiko.

“What’s it like in there?” I asked Kanji as he was stepping in.

“It’s… interesting. You’ll find out for yourself.”

He, then Rise climbed in. Teddie entered in halfway, and then turned his entire body to look at me, “You can’t get in without your power, so go in right after me.”

“Alright then.”

Teddie then crawled through, but just before the screen faded out, I stuck my hand in.

The TV felt weird to stick my hand through, on both a psychological standpoint, and a physical standpoint. It was sort of like empty space, but it felt both chilly and warm at the same time.

I then heard customers from around the corner, so I decided to hurry it up. I then stuck my arm through, and then my head.

It was simply empty space inside, with nothing there. It weirded me out a little, causing me to almost hesitate. But I figured if anything felt weird, it was about to get a whole lot weirder.

I stepped one leg in, and shoved myself into the abyss…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, the Shiroku Pub is only in Golden, and I said this was based off of P4 vanilla. Well, what I meant by that was that Marie wasn't gonna be in this, but I can still incorporate elements from the anime/Golden. And, I decided to make Naoto's appearance on the Midnight Channel a day early, because the TV segment comes a day before his appearance, so I decided I'd change that. Next 2 chapters will be of Naoto's palace, so I might do a double update depending on how much more I write ahead.  
> Edit: that guy in the bar that Takari was talking to wasn’t just any random character. Those who have played the game he’s from might recognize him


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said, this, and Chapter 16 will all be in Naoto's palace. I really liked the idea of Takari's first encounter in the TV World being this specific dungeon, because it's the last one before shit starts to get real. I'm really liking how consistent I'm getting out these chapters, it's a good balance between me having enough time and motivation to write them, and the actual amount of reading per week. A good schedule is not something I see many fanfic writers doing, yet it's so convenient for the readers in my opinion.

I plummeted down the dark abyss of the portal that disguised itself as a TV with feelings of slight fear and astonishment finding their way into my system. The atmosphere had a slight chill to it, which was only intensified with the wind encountering friction against my bare skin. But there was something more to the air. Something… lost in the fog.

_“...et out o… here…”_

A voice had disturbed the silence in which I found myself. However, on second thought, I questioned whether it really had. It was impossible to distinguish whether it was within my head or around me.

A part of me thought both.

_“Get out of here…”_

The voice was clearer this time, and unfortunately much louder, however seeming as if it were whispering.

_“You shouldn’t be here…”_

_“Get out of here…”_

_“Turn back now…”_

If my mental state were under any less pressure, I maybe would have thought about making a snarky comment about that last statement being obsolete. The reason my mental state was under attack was because they were getting louder and louder, and more and more frequent. 

It evolved to the point where the voices were so loud and there were so many things being said at once that it became impossible to describe what they were saying. But I didn’t need to understand the words to understand the intent. 

It became so bad to the point where I had to clutch my head even as I was falling in an attempt to alleviate the pain. Now they were screaming and whispering at the same time, which I didn’t know was possible. I didn’t know how much longer of this pain I would need to endure in order to be let out of this freakish hell.

Suddenly, just when I thought I would snap, everything disappeared, and it was as if my mental state had never gained such stress. I then realized I was approaching the ground at a dangerous speed, so I braced myself for landing.

The impact wasn’t as bad as I had predicted. I didn’t seem to have sustained any major injuries, or even moderate ones. The only injury was my feet being left with a slight tingling feeling.

I stood up, and took a look at my surroundings.

It was a foggy atmosphere, with barely any visible objects within 3 feet of me. From what I could see, it looked like a movie studio of some kind, with spotlights and a platform surrounding me. In front of me, I could make out some distinct figures which I assumed were my friends.

I was proven right; a figure who I would discover to be Yosuke emerged from the fog, “Yo. What took you so long?”

I raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean? I came in like 5 seconds after Teddie.”

“Huh?” Teddie’s voice called out in confusion.

I took this time to notice that Yosuke had put on glasses of some sort in the time I was gone. 

Rise then entered my vision, “So… what do you think…?”

I looked around, “I feel like ‘out of this world’ would be putting it too realistically.”

She chuckled, “Probably.”

It was hard to see, so I constantly had to try and squint in order to see.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Teddie exclaimed, “You probably can’t see a thing, can you?”

I shook my head, “Nope.”

He then reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pair of glasses, “Here. These will help you see better.”

I reluctantly put them on, unsure of why he gave me the.

The difference was like night and day. It was as if the fog had never even existed in the first place. I could see better than I could in the real world. It felt as if I would be able to see for miles if there was enough space.

Chie clearly saw my reaction, “Big difference, eh?”

“Understatement.”

She chuckled. I then took this time to spot a fox sitting right near us, with none of them seeming bothered by it.

“Uhh, anyone wanna explain to me what a _fox_ is doing here?”

“Oh, that thing?” Chie said, “It heals our Personas in exchange for money. Don’t ask how or why, it just works…”

Yu then walked up to us with clear business written on his face.

“Rise. Do you think you can track Naoto?”

“I dunno… lemme try.”

Rise then summoned a majestic being holding what looked to be an oversized headband. Instead of a head, it bore a satellite dish. It was probably twice as tall as Rise.

It lowered the headband down to Rise’s eye level, and only then did I realize it was a scanner. We all sat in silence for some time until her Persona faded out of existence.

“He’s definitely here, but I have no idea where. I think we might need more info on him.”

Yu then walked over to the TV stands in the corner, “I’ll be right back. Give me 30 minutes tops.”

He walked directly into the TVs, and disappeared out of existence. 

I shook slightly, “That’s gonna take some getting used to for watching.”

“That’s assuming you’ll be coming in here on a regular basis.” Yosuke pointed out as Kanji and Rise began talking with one another.

“Well. how did you fare up against the Shadows down here before you got your Personas?” I asked.

“Well, for Hanamura-san over here, his crush told him she hated him, and for Chie-chan, Yukiko told her she depended on her.”

“WH- You little twerp!” Yosuke and Chie said in unison.

“Hmm,” I wondered as Yosuke and Chie were bullying Ted, “Sounds like your Shadows came when the people you cared about mentioned you… whether in a positive or negative tone,”

The duo were put on pause to look at me, “Hmm… maybe you’re right…” Yosuke admitted.

I snapped, “Good thing everyone I’ve ever cared about is gone!”

“Uhh…” Chie didn’t know how to respond to that, “Still, I wouldn’t recommend listening to Naoto’s shadow. Who knows what it’d say…”

That’s when I pulled out my trap card: earbuds, “Ooh, with these babies I won’t be hearing a word from him,” I bragged.

“You’re _that_ sure on staying here?”

I shrugged, “What’s the big deal? If I encounter any Shadows, I think I’ll still be alright?”

“What?” Yosuke, Chie, and Teddie all said in unison.

“Now, I may not be the strongest one here…” I admitted, looking over to Kanji, “Nor the most crafty one here…” I would have looked to Yu, but he was gone, “But, I can say with complete confidence that I’m the fastest one here, and that includes the Shadows,”

“Really?” Yosuke asked, “Like track?”

“No,” I told him, “I mean fast as in _reaction time_ fast.”

“You think you could outrun the Shadows?” Teddie asked.

“From your description, they seem rather large, and the bigger they are, the slower they are.”

“Hmm…” Teddie seemed to be trying to remember something, “Oh! That’s right! I could smell Yosuke and Chie’s Shadows before they came out. It was only a hint, but I could definitely smell them!”

He then leaned in, and inhaled very deeply through his nose. He took 5 quick sniffs, and then came upon a verdict; “Hmm… I can smell your Shadow, but it’s extremely tiny. It would need a big event for it to come out here…”

He looked into my eyes, “If you had been thrown in here rather than getting hurt, your Shadow wouldn’t have been there at all.”

“...Does this mean I’m safe or what?” I asked reluctantly.

“You’re safe for now,” Teddie said, “It wouldn’t activate here, but I can’t say the same in a couple months from now.”

I looked to my teammates, “Then let’s make this a one-time thing. We save Naoto here, and I stop entering here before my Shadow gets any worse.”

“Agreed!” Yosuke and Chie said in unison, Teddie a little late.

…

20 minutes later, Yu came back, and told Rise something. She summoned her Persona once more, but this time, she located Naoto.

We arrived at what appeared to be a bunker of some sorts. It was disguised as a radio station, with 2 satellite dishes perched on top. A large red light was next to the entrance, no doubt an alarm. Around the walls, I could see emblems of an eagle in a circle.

“Woah… what is this place?” Kanji asked in astonishment.

“It looks to be some secret base or something.” Yosuke answered for him, “Looks like something out of a kid’s show…”

“I was thinking the same thing myself…” I said.

“By the way,” Chie brought up, “I think we should tell Narukami about you-know-what?”

“Hm?” He turned around.

“What, did you make an agreement of some sorts?” Kanji asked.

I quickly told Yu my plan, and he described the process of rescuing someone more in detail.

“Each dungeon has a number of floors that we need to climb in order to get to the end, and confront their Shadow. There is one set of stairs on each floor leading to the next one. Once we find that, it’s one step closer to saving them. With you, we could help find the stairs much quicker, since you can scout ahead and dodge Shadows.”

I nodded, “Ok! Rise will track me using her Persona, and I’ll find the stairs within a couple minutes. When you guys are ready, come to my location, and we’ll move from there.”

“Got it. Just… be careful.” Chie commented.

We entered the secret lab with caution and wonder in our stances. When we entered, half of the floor was covered in large, steel tiling, and the other half was covered in grates. A large, steel door was placed to our left, and the hallway in front of us extended straight, and then to the right. 

“Jesus…” Yosuke wondered, “What is this place?”

“Only one way to find out,” I commented.

_“Bleargh!”_

Suddenly, a dark and ominous figure rounded the corner. It seemed to be a creature of some sorts sunken into a liquid, crawling its way around. When it spotted us, everyone braced themselves.

“Here it comes!” Yu announced.

I kept my eyes locked onto the Shadow. Suddenly, I felt an odd and almost nauseating effect. It was as if time slowed down partially, and the only thing moving at full speed was my brain. I observed my vision get tinted gray slightly.

My focus was on the Shadow. It had its hand to the side in an odd angle. Most people would never know why it was doing that in real time, and even if they did, they’d never figure it out in time.

I was not most people.

I could easily see that the Shadow arced its hand sideways to prepare for a swing. It was going to swing its hand up, and then move it to the other side and down in a diagonal swing as hard and as fast as it could. 

I had predicted its movements before it had even made them, but I could see certain muscles tensing up preparing for the swing.

I then did a very risky move, and allowed my vision to focus out. I took note of my teammates’ stances. They were hunched in a battle stance, and Yu was pulling out his sword, ready to attempt to hit it first.

 _What the hell are they doing?_ I wondered, _I can see this thing’s movements from a mile away, it’s pathetically easy to dodge._

And dodge I did. As time sped up to its former state, I shot forward, heard the team members call out my name, and dove under the Shadow’s swing.

The Shadow was caught off-guard, giving the team the perfect opportunity to get the first hits. But now wasn’t a time to observe. I had to keep moving.

Then, the opposite seemed to happen. Time seemed to speed up as I rocketed down the hall, and traversed the maze of this labyrinth. I eventually encountered another Shadow, and as time slowed once more, I realized that the Shadow was doing the exact same swing. Once again, time sped up as I slipped under and around its swing.

Normally, the Shadow would chase me if I attempted to run in the opposite direction. However, I realized quickly that the Shadows’ visual capabilities weren’t the strongest. It had seen me run directly towards it, rather than away from it, but then, the attack didn’t hit, and I was out of his field of vision. The sensation was similar to a baseball player getting a strike. He didn’t see how he missed, he only saw the aftermath of the ball missing, and the unsatisfying feeling of no direct contact.

Except it was as if his vision was cut short, it took him 3 whole seconds to turn around, and there was no cage behind him. This sensation threw the Shadows off balance, allowing me time to run directly past them once more. 

As I shot ahead of my teammates, I began to feel good. I felt like I was _made_ for dodging Shadows. Miss after miss, sidestep after sidestep. I felt myself getting into a very good rhythm, until eventually, I found a door. When I opened it, I was greeted with a tunnel leading downwards. 

I remembered that this was underground, so I contacted Rise.

“I found the stairs. Would you like to move on?”

“Already? Hang on, let me check with them…”

A couples seconds go by.

“Yep, we’re coming. Stay there.”

Eventually, I heard footsteps, and the door opened.

“Woah, nice! I didn’t think you’d be so fast!” Yosuke complimented.

I chuckled, “I didn’t realize I was going so fast. Something must’ve came up over me.”

“Let’s move.” Yu interrupted.

The next floor looked mostly the same, but looks were the only thing that was the same about it.

“WARNING, WARNING, INTRUDER ALERT. EXIT THE FACILITY IMMEDIATELY! REPEAT: EXIT THE FACILITY IMMEDIATELY!”

I winced, “Jesus, that was loud.

“It won’t stop us, right?” Kanji motivated the team.

They all agreed with him, as did I.

I soon noticed that the layout was more hectic this time. As I ran around enemies, I didn’t get hit a single time, but I did have some close calls. I eventually found another room, but this time I was greeted with a chest. I opened it, and received a speed-enhancing item known as a Super Sonic. I put it in my pocket, “Might be useful for later,” I said aloud to myself.

It wasn’t long after that did I find the stairs leading downward, so everyone else joined me in progressing.

The third floor relayed the same message to us, so we continued onwards. This time, I found the stairs much quicker this time, but when I told Rise, her answer surprised me.

“Senpai told me that he wants to stay on this floor for a while. He wants to train their Personas, and if we move up too quickly, the Shadows will be too strong.”

I considered that idea for a moment, “Good point. So, there’s the sense of balancing your endurance with the practice needed to progress?”

“Exactly. We’ll let you know once Senpai wants to go farther.”

For about 5 minutes, I sat in silence, whistling to myself. Then, Rise told me Yu was finished, so we were onto the fourth floor.

The fourth floor was a little different this time; the walls were painted more light gray rather than a light brown. As I sped on ahead, I could tell that the Shadows were faster as well. But, whatever sense was allowing me to think in hyper speed was the only thing keeping me alive right now (probably adrenaline rush). 

I then stumbled across a massive door of some kind. When I went to check it, it told me it required a key.

“Uhh, Rise?”

“Found it?”

“I found a _door._ Tells me it’ll need a key to open. Think it’s important?”

“Hmm… not sure. Check the area for a key,”

I scouted the area around the door, but didn’t find anything but a bunch of chests, and the stairs. Eventually, the team looped back to me, and came up empty as well. Our only choice was to move on.

The fifth floor was a breeze, however I still had to get used to avoiding the Shadows. Some of them were now swinging in an upward arc, rather than diagonally, meaning that I had to hop to the side to avoid getting hit. One of them even managed to regain its senses after I avoided it, and started chasing me. I probably could’ve outran it, but that would have run the risk of getting another Shadow on me, which meant I had to do some funky shit. I used my feet as a brake, let it catch up with me, sidestepped out of the way _with my back turned_ , and backtracked while I attempted to find a way around.

But I soon found the stairs, so we all moved on.

Unfortunately, the sixth floor was not as forgiving. I searched and searched, but I could not find the stairs anywhere. What was worse was the fact that I found yet another locked door. I put two and two together, and assumed the stairs were behind this wall. Now how to get past…

“Yo, Takari!”

I turned by body to be greeted with the team. Yosuke had been the one to call out.

“I think the staircase is beyond this door.” I relayed.

“Good thing we found this,” Kanji held up a keycard. He then walked over to the door, and placed it on the slot.

“ **Error.”** The computer described, **“Keycard does not match our credentials.”**

“What!?” Kanji exclaimed in confusion. He tried swiping it again, but it said the same thing.

“Give it to me,” Yosuke told him, “You’re probably not holding it ri-”

Turns out, he _was_ holding it right, it was just the wrong card.

“WH-!? ‘Only for use on Floor 4’? What kind of BS is this!?”

I sighed, “It’s probably for that door we encountered way back. I’m betting that the key for _this_ door is in that room.”

I took the card from Yosuke, “I’ll go get it real quick.”

So now, I had to go _back_ to the entrance, through **all of Floor 5** , still encountering the same enemies I dodged for a _second_ time, made my way down to Floor 4, and put the card to the scanner.

“Access, Granted.”

…

Ok, so good news and bad news:

Good news: the keycard was most likely in there.

Bad news: It wasn’t alone.

The gigantic robot arched its massive sword back, aiming for my direct middle section in a horizontal and probably fatal strike.

I just barely managed to avoid it by the skin of my teeth, and shot out the door, and instantly contacted Rise.

“We’ve got a problem.”

“Is it in there?”

“Yes, but there’s also the 10 ft tall robot to account for.”

“Geez, another powerful Shadow’s down there?” Rise at this point simply sounded fed up, “The team hasn’t been too good since we covered six floors in one go, but you were a big help.”

“Thanks, I guess…”

“How about we call it for today? We all can pick up right where we left off on Floor 4 tomorrow.”

“Sure. Sounds good.”

So, that concluded the first day of exploring. The second day, on the other hand, wouldn’t be anywhere close to less eventful in the slightest...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, this one came out pretty good. Writing Naoto's dungeon was fun, including his ability to dodge the Shadows. I feel like that a scout of some kinds is a possible mechanic for Persona, because it gives you the option to absolutely shred through the dungeons, or to wait and grind, like they did on Floor 3. I also included direct elements from the game from Naoto's dungeon, like you needing to backtrack halfway through to advance (I hate backtracking, so I never forgot it). I also had the team have great concern for Takari's safety when going in the TV World, yet seeing his effectiveness might change their minds (also, as for the part where he dodges Shadows in slow motion, no he doesn't have The World, or King Crimson, it's just adrenaline rush). Next chapter will be REALLY long, and in my opinion, really good. Also, the new average word count has officially been upped from 2,000-3000 words to 3,000-4,000 words (apart from Chapter 16 [yes it really is that long]).


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Nooo, you can't have an inconsistent word count fluctuating between the chapters!"  
> Haha 4 thousand word count go BRRRRRRRRRR

9/16:

“Watch out, Yu!” Rise called out.

The massive robot was taking a second swing in the opposite direction after it had missed the first one. Yu, with the help of Rise, managed to summon Izanagi just in time to block the sword with its own. They stood like that for an agonizing second, before the monster reeled back with pain; Izanagi had flowed a bolt of lightning through its sword, shocking the monster, and causing it to back off.

Izanagi took this time to slice the monster sideways and across the chest, knocking it over.

“Aha!” Rise commented, “Is this our chance?”

With the power of Rise’s Persona, the team all charged in, and toppled down upon the enemy, dealing massive damage until the monster knocked them all away in time for it to get back up. Its stance was hunched over, meaning it was on its last legs.

“I got this!”

Yosuke, arrogantly thinking it would be an easy victory after that blow, went for a high risk but high reward strategy with Jiraiya, and charged head on into it, spikes flaring in an all-attack, no-defense formation. The mech had just barely managed to block it, and things weren’t looking good for the Persona, and thus, Yosuke, however the tides quickly changed when Yosuke called upon his teammate.

“Kanji! Now!”

An extremely powerful attack landed a direct hit on the Shadow, spinning it out of Jiraiya’s grip, and supporting itself on the wall as it attempted to regain its bearings.

“Now, Senpai!” Kanji called.

Izanagi swung out of the corner, and arced its sword in one, final motion. Rather than landing on its midsection, the blade made contact with the robot’s neck, which appeared to be the main control point (not unlike humans).

A flurry of sparks flew out, and the Shadow’s body grew very rigid. Its ankles lost all traction, and it toppled face-first onto the floor, before dissipating in a cloud of black smoke.

“Good job everyone!” Rise complimented, “I knew you could do it.”

I crawled out from my hiding place behind the chest which contained the key for the sixth floor, “That was the. Absolute. Coolest thing I have ever seen.”

Yosuke grinned, “Everyone says that at first.”

“Have you got it?” the Leader asked me.

I held up the key, brandishing the F6 symbol in the corner.

“Nice!” Kanji complimented, “Now let’s finish this!”

Due to already traversing half of Floor 4, and all of Floors 5 and 6 (twice, no less), we ran into absolutely no Shadows on our way to the door. I did the honors as I showed the card to the scanner.

**“Access Granted”**

The big door opened, leading to a set of stairs.

Floors 7 and 8 were all very easy for the team. They had grown tremendously due to the big fight at the beginning of the journey, and I even felt myself feeling more concentrated than before. Naoto’s dungeon was no match for us.

Eventually, we reached Floor 9 where the only thing that was standing in our way was a massive door. No paths, no Shadows, just a door.

“I’m detecting a strong Shadow beyond this door…” Rise informed us, “Should we continue?”

Yu looked from Yosuke, to Kanji, and then to me, who all nodded.

“Let’s go.”

On the count of three, the four of us burst through the door, and faced Naoto and his Shadow. 

The sight before us was among the most bizarre ones I had ever seen. The center of the room was occupied with an operating table of some sorts, but it wasn’t any ordinary operating table. Extending down from the ceiling were 2 mechanical arms, one holding a buzzsaw, and the other holding a drill. Three massive spotlights illuminated the scene before us, nearly blinding me with its glare, but even all those weren’t the most bizarre.

Sitting in front of the operating table lied a crying Naoto with an oversized lab coat, and a calm and disappointed… Naoto?

The one which looked calm and disappointed appeared to be the real one, as he turned towards us, and spoke in a normal voice.

“Ah, so you’ve arrived. I was getting tired of dealing with this child.”

He began to walk towards us, but the other Naoto (who I assumed was his Shadow), grabbed his sleeve.

“No, don’t go!” it whined, “Please don’t leave me!”

He sighed, “I have to go back now. I can’t stay here.”

“Why are you leaving me? Why does everyone always abandon me…?”

I leaned into Yosuke’s ear, “Is this what normally happens?”

“Not really, but there’s no real standard for normalness with these guys.” he whispered back.

“You wear the same face as I.” Naoto said coolly, “It’s as if you are implying we are one in the same.”

Suddenly, it’s demeanour changed into what the guys told me what would happen when they confronted it, “I  _ am _ you. Why must you delude yourself so often?”

Naoto’s eyes widened as the Shadow continued on, “This childish act was no mere act. This is the truth! It is  _ your _ truth!”

“What?” Naoto’s voice was level, but that was subject to change.

“They all say ‘keep out of our business, kid’, ‘this is adult stuff’. You’ve always wanted to be treated like an adult, but the truth is, you’re just a poor and lonely child underneath crying for mommy and daddy.”

“No… stop…” Now his speech was wavering.

The shadow then took up the crying act, but we now knew that the act was illegitimate, “I want a reason for me to stay… I don’t wanna be treated like a child anymore! Why can’t I just be older, then they’ll see who I am!”

The shadow went back to being serious, “Ha! As if that would make a difference. Your body does not make an impact on your reputation, your decisions do! You believe that people treat you as a child because of your appearance, but the truth is that you act like an arrogant, self-centered brat, and not the cool,  _ manly _ detective you sought so hard to be.”

Naoto didn’t say anything after that, he just watched as his insecurities were slowly being unraveled.

The Shadow, meanwhile, looked out upon the group before them. Yu had chosen a lineup with himself, Yosuke, Kanji, and me, so it was all boys in the room.

“Hmph. You observed these four rushing through this place, obliterating anything in sight, how  _ manly _ of them to come and rescue  _ you _ , of all people.”

_ Where the hell are the girls and Teddie? _ I wondered.

The Shadow advanced on him, “You want to be just like them, don’t you? Inherit all of their manliness, and become respected among the police force, and among your peers. But how can you be viewed as ‘manly’ if you were never even a man to begin with!?”

The four of us looked shocked, Kanji most of all.

“D-Does this mean he…” Yosuke began.

“I-Isn’t a guy!?!?” Kanji finished for him.

I almost laughed, “Who could’ve seen this coming?”

“Not me.” Yu answered.

Naoto just looked at us in shock. He just had all of his secrets revealed- wait a second...

“It’s alright…” The Shadow but in, clearly seeing  _ her _ discomfort, “You needn’t feel such burdens anymore. With this operation, you will no longer have to ‘act’ it, you will be able to  _ live _ it!”

_ Well, that explains the buzzsaw. But what’s the drill for? _

“No… NO!” She screamed.

Just then, Yukiko, Chie, Rise, and Teddie all burst in.

I whirled around angrily towards them, “What, did you stop for drive through?”

“In the nick of time no less,” Yosuke followed up, “He- she’s about to explode.”

“SHE!?” Chie screamed.

“Later!” Kanji called out.

Meanwhile, the Shadow was taunting Naoto, “Go ahead. Try to deny it further. You’ve been denying it all your life.”

“That’s not true!”

_ Uh oh… _

“I’m…! You’re…”

“Don’t say it!” Chie screamed.

“No.” Kanji said boldly, “Let her try to deny it. Get it all outta her system, so we can beat the shit out of it all over again!”

The Shadow merely laughed. As it was laughing, its lab coat began to float upward by an invisible force, “You’ll kick my ass, huh? Go ahead and try…you rodent-brained buffoon!”

Four mechanical arms shot out of the operating table, and locked themselves around Naoto’s limbs. It shot her onto the operating table, and pinned her spread eagle.

But, the Shadow wasn’t finished, the Shadow itself began to emit a dark cloud beneath itself, slowly rising to cover its entire body. Soon, it covered her up entirely, and a larger creature began to emerge. We all stared at it in awe as it slowly revealed itself to be a giant mech-version of Naoto herself, with half of her skin gone, and replaced by robotic parts. It had a jetpack strapped to its back, and was dual-wielding ray guns.

Yu was the first to gain back his senses, “Ted, swap in for Takari!”

“On it, Sensei!”

Teddie launched into the front lines as I retreated to the back, and took cover near Chie and Yukiko. Rise had abandoned us to attempt to get to a safe vantage point to use her Persona as the Shadow said its last words before the fight began.

“I am the Shadow… the true self!”

“Jesus, this thing is massive!” Yosuke commented.

“You truly wish to question me? Then let us commence.”

“Hmph.” Yu said, determined.

A card had been summoned, and a card had been broken. Garuda leaped out of Yu’s mind, and it sent a massive tornado flying Shadow Naoto’s way. The tornado interfered with its jetpack, causing it to spin around. Kanji took this time to send a bolt of lightning at the Shadow. However, the Shadow was still caught up in the tornado, so Take-Mikazuchi missed its target.

“Yosuke! C’mere for a sec!”

Yosuke leaned in as Teddie shared his plan.

“You crazy bear! How’d you figure  _ that _ one out!?”

Even though his words were not the kindest, he had a big grin on his face.

Teddie summoned his Persona, and pointed at the now recovered Shadow Naoto. A barrage of ice enclosed the creature, slowing it down immensely, and getting ice in the jetpack.

“Now, Yosuke!”

Yosuke took this time to send a powerful slash from Jiraiya, causing the ice to break, and for the Shadow to reel back in pain.

“You think you can attack me? Hmph. Very well. Then let us begin the special operation!”

“O-Operation?” Teddie said nervously, “I hate ouchies!”

The shadow then pointed an alien gun at them, and fired a circular beam from a movie. It was aimed at Yu, however Kanji had  **I shit you not** DROP KICKED Yu out of the way, and took the hit for him.

Kanji was instantly paralyzed, allowing the mech the perfect opportunity to risk coming in low to slam Kanji away, and into the wall.

“Kanji!!!” Everyone screamed.

“Chie, come in!” Yu called out.

I couldn’t quite see what happened next, because I was focused on a sound ever since Teddie and Yosuke’s attack.

Focussed on a sound...

A sound…

The sound... of a buzzsaw and drill spinning up.

_ Oh shit… _

I launched out from my hiding place, and rocketed over to the operating table, dodging whatever debris was flown at me. If I heard correctly, and my suspicions were correct, then they would be too occupied with fighting to even notice until she started screaming, but it would be too late. Unfortunately, my suspicions were proven right. Once I made it to the operating table, I prioritized the buzzsaw. It had angled itself towards Naoto’s chest, and only God knows what it would have done.

Well, God and all of us in the room if I didn’t act fast enough.

I advanced on the buzzsaw, looped to the back of the arm supporting it, and pulled with all my might.

I managed to send it off course, but it’d take a lot more than that to stop the operation.

I just barely managed to reel it away from the operating table when I had an idea. I took out my knife, and stabbed at the point where the machine was connected to the buzzsaw; right at the middle. 

Sparks flew out everywhere; it was so bad, it nearly obstructed my vision. The buzzsaw began to slow down tremendously, but I wasn’t done. I wedged my knife between the arm and the disc, and angled it away from the disc.

From within, I could hear wires snap, and the blade stopped spinning immediately. I ripped the buzzsaw off, and threw it on the ground.

And then there’s the drill.

I rocketed around the operating table, breath coming in fast, and hard. Naoto then began shouting at the top of her lungs even though she seemed too terrified to talk when the buzzsaw was there. I had absolutely no idea why she was freaking the fuck out so much, until I caught sight of just exactly  _ where _ the drill was placed.

_ AAAAAND  _ **_that’s_ ** _ what the drill’s for. _

As I looped around the arm to try and pull it away from her, I caught sight on something on her waist.

_ Is that… a gun holster? _

I pulled the drill the furthest away with one massive pull, and ran over to Naoto’s side, where I unclipped it, and pulled it out.

“Wh-!? What are you doing!?”

I held up the gun, “Mind if I borrow this?” 

_ As if she had a choice… _ I thought as I saw Shadow Naoto and Tomoe dueling.

I aimed the gun at the top of the arm’s origin near the roof, and fired three bullets.

The first one hit one of the lights, which helped my vision by reducing the glare. The second one hit its mark, and penetrated the metal, but the third one missed by a LONG shot.

But, I couldn’t help but take note that the second bullet’s impact wasn’t as powerful as I had thought; it only cut through some of the wires, and didn't even make it all the way through the metal.

I then realized what happened.

“RUBBER BULLETS!?” I yelled, tossing the gun onto her chest.

Well, I think I cut the wires that made the arm move the drill, leaving it inches away from her clothes. Unfortunately, it was still spinning really, really fast, and now that I looked at it, I saw a tiny-ass tube in which chemicals looked like they’d come out from, confirming my suspicions on what the drill was for.

My thoughts were distracted by a cry of pain from Chie. She had just been knocked out, and Teddie was lying on the ground too. Only Yosuke and Yu were left standing, and they were in the stupidest spot; right damn next to each other.

The Shadow looked at them with a gleam in its eyes, and I could tell it was about to send a wave of electricity at them; both of their Personas’ weaknesses.

_ They’ll never be fast enough to dodge out of the way of it. _

I felt helpless to what I needed to do. If only there was some way I could speed them up, or allow them to see it coming. But unfortunately, their reaction time was too slow. I could see the robot angling its arm to prepare for a charge, and desperately searched for a plan that would help speed them up.

Speed them up…

That sounds familiar…

My eyes widened. I scrambled into my pockets, and took out the Super Sonic I had stored. I then arced it as far back as possible, and threw it with all my might.

It landed right on top of them, who (THANKFULLY), rather than looking at me, used its speed enhancing capabilities to doge out of the way of the attack just in time.

“Yukiko!” Narukami called in.

However, I had more pressing matters to attend to, and one of those was the bolted-down girl sitting behind me.

I took one look at Naoto, lying there, struggling against the metal, completely helpless and terrified. Next, I looked at the method in which the metal had bolted itself down on Naoto’s limbs.There were two large bolts on either side of the cuff that looked like they were the single thing holding her in. I then glanced back at the drill that was still running, and had a plan.

A stupid plan.

But a plan.

I flipped up, and around the drill, landing on the backside of it. I leaned in to get my eyesight as close to the drill as possible while still seeing above it. 

“Whatever you do.” I said, trying to keep my voice as level as possible, “ **Don’t. Move. A muscle.** ”

I then pushed the drill up the table, and to her left wrist covered in metal. I aimed for the large metal bolt that had been used to secure in the metal around her wrist, and very carefully lowered the drill onto the bolt.

Naoto’s eyes closed shut in fear of what was to come. Our breaths were both quick, and powerful. The drill’s contact against the bolt made a screeching sound that was agonizing to listen to. The team members even winced and paused their fighting to look at the sound.

Their eyes widened in response to their shock of the realization of what I was doing. Sparks were flying everywhere, the noise was almost unbearable, and any small mistake had the potential to lead to some serious injuries. But they wouldn’t get the luxury of time spent looking to observe it, since they still had a robot to deal with.

The drill was theoretically going fast enough to cut through more efficiently, but my heart rate was probably the highest it had been all year, so I wasn’t gonna take my chances.

Suddenly, I felt my entire body tense up, and my focus enhanced immensely. All other sounds were muffled out, and my breathing was deeper, and more controlled. I pushed the drill in farther, and farther, my concentration unwavering. I focused not on the massive robot in which my friends were fighting that had the potential to knock into the drill, nor did I focus on the petrified girl that was locked into the thing I was drilling. My focus entirely remained on the single bolt until I heard the sound of the impact change, indicating that I was now drilling into the operating table.

I shoved the drill back up again, making it out of harm’s way, as Naoto attempted to free her hand. One side of the cuff was free, but the other side was still bolted in. She couldn’t quite pull her hand out, however; the metal was too rigid.

I then walked over to her, grabbed the loose cuff, and pulled with all of my might. Just as I thought my strength would give out, Naoto’s arm flew out of the cuff, her wrist bruised from struggling so much.

I breathed a sigh of relief; only one bolt to get her hand out would save me a lot of time rather than drilling out both. Each one took 30 seconds to a minute to completely burn through.

**“Doink!”**

My head whirled around to the sound; Yosuke had attacked the robot, causing it to slam into the support beam, sending a chunk of it flying inches away from the drill. 

_ If it had hit, it might have been moved, piercing her skin… _

Thinking about that probably wasn’t the smartest play, since my heart rate had just been gifted another 10 beats per minute.

Naoto’s hand weakly moved to the gun lying on top of her, and she began to attempt to aim at the Shadow.

I weaved around the table, and held up her arm to attempt to help her aim. She aimed for three more seconds, before a shot rang out in the air.

_ Where did she learn to shoot like that!? _

Despite being a rubber bullet, it had landed a direct hit in the robot’s mechanical eye, causing it to reel back in pain. Its vision apparently relied heavily on that eye, and now, since it was gone, it ping-ponged around the room.

But it had soon regained its strength, “You insufferable brats! I’ll make you pay! I’ll show you what a-”

When I had said ‘strength’, I didn’t mean ‘concentration’ or ‘awareness’.

“RRRRRAAAAUUUGGGGHHHHHH!!!” Kanji yelled.

Take-Mikazuchi roared to life as it grabbed its lightning bolt, swung it in an arc, and hit Shadow Naoto with it in one, final strike.

The lightning bolt shattered, making his electric capabilities unusable, but it didn’t matter; the impact was so massive, it took out the Shadow’s jetpack. The shadow hunkered down to the floor, and attempted to get back up, but eventually collapsed from critical damages. It then exploded in a cloud of black smoke, and the only thing that was left was Shadow Naoto’s small figure curled up in a ball. 

From behind me, I could hear the drill whirring down, meaning cutting off the other 3 bolts wasn’t an option anymore.

“Hoy! Gimme a hand here!” I yelled to no one specifically. Anyone to help get her out.

Take-Mikazuchi approached the small girl as I hopped off the operating table. Effortlessly, he calmly snapped the bolts in two, freeing her other limbs. He then gently picked her up, and transported her to the ground.

Having a free seat, I crashed to the ground, and leaned my body against the operating table until I could regain my breath.

Naoto approached her Shadow, afraid of what might happen if she got too close.

“Why… why does everyone leave me so often!?”

Naoto responded to this by giving us a backstory.

“When I was growing up, my parents died in a car crash, causing me to be orphaned at a young age. My grandfather, a detective, took me in as his own, teaching me his ways, and giving me comfort when no one else would. In my spare time, I used to like to read detective novels, and before I knew it, I wanted to become a detective too…”

“When I’m grown up, I wanna be just like Grampa!” The Shadow said, mimicking her younger self.

Naoto nodded, “Eventually, he let me in the force as a junior, and introduced me to the others. But, I focused far too hard on what they thought of me. They saw me as no more than a child, and I doubted they would take a small girl as a detective. So… I masked my identity.”

_ “That’s _ why?” Kanji said calmly.

She nodded, “However, now I realize that crossing the barrier between sexes wouldn’t help me focus any more on being a detective. I let others influence my work, and changed myself based on how others saw me.”

She put her hands on the cheeks of her Shadow, “But now I realize that my appearance isn’t what’s wrong. It’s what I do. I’m still only a child, and it’s time I stop acting like something I’m not.”

The Shadow smiled, and nodded once. Its body began to glow a bright blue, and from that light, it disappeared. Rising from the light was a very tiny figure with a sword that was probably bigger than itself. It was dressed in a cute, blue outfit, and bore a blue and yellow helmet. Unlike all of the other Personas, this one seemed twice as small as Naoto, rather than twice as large.

“Is this… my power…?”

Yosuke smiled, “You’re one of us now.”

Naoto held a wavering and cheesy smile, then fell face first onto the floor.

“Naoto!” Kanji dashed over, and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“She’ll be fine.” Yu assured him, “She just needs rest.”

“Not the only one.” I said from my spot against the operating table.

“...you alright Takari?” Rise sounded slightly concerned.

“No, no, I’m fine. Just… a little stressed.”

I unsteadily got to my feet, “I think I need some time for my heart rate to drop back down.”

“You managed to save Naoto from that awful operation!” Teddie said a little too loudly.

“I couldn’t even imagine the stress you endured.” Yukiko commented, “Using the drill to cut open the metal? None of us could’ve done that.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a good thing Naoto had that gun for a while.” I breathed, clutching my chest, “She knows how to shoot.”

“You’re having trouble breathing.” Yu said, “Let’s go back now.”

“Aye, aye, captain.”

Rise offered her shoulder for my arm to sling over, and I graciously took it. Kanji picked up Naoto, and carried her like a doll. We slowly walked out of Naoto’s dungeon, but along the way back from her dungeon to the exit, Naoto woke up.

“Wh… where am I?”

“”Relax, Naoto.” Yu told her, “You’re in good hands.”

She looked at Yu first, then at Kanji carrying her like it was their wedding, then at the rest of us. Yukiko was supporting Chie, Yosuke was supporting Teddie, and Rise was supporting me.

“You all saved me… thank you.”

Kanji chuckled, “Guess you know our little secret now.”

“...I never expected it to be anything like this…”

“No one did.” Yosuke said darkly.

She then turned to me, “You… you saved me back there. On the table.”

I shrugged, “Don’t sweat it, kid.”

“No.” She insisted, “Only God knows what that machine would have done to me if you had not bravely stopped it. And the drill…"

“You were probably terrified when I drilled you out.” I commented, “I’d know, cuz  _ I _ was terrified.”

I then found myself chuckling, “The look on you guys’ faces when you figured out what I was doing.”

“We thought you were crazy, man!” Chie rasped.

“Heh. Probably.”

“Well, what matters is that you’re safe.” Yu said.

Naoto nodded, and sunk back into Kanji’s arms.

I sighed, “Well, as of now, I’m looking forward to going home, and hitting the hay. How bout y’all?”

“Same.” They all said.

Once we found the exit and brought Naoto back into the real world, Yukiko led Naoto home, while the rest of us went our separate ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loved the intensity of this chapter in both the combat and the part where he drills Naoto out. I'm looking forward to these upcoming chapters, cuz that's when we get into endgame territory, with the Beauty Paegant, and the main relationship WHICH I STILL HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT 40,000 WORDS, 2 AND A HALF MONTHS, AND 16 CHAPTERS LATER *inhales*  
> Anyway, I'm really glad this chapter's done, because that means I can start to use Naoto's female pronouns, since using male pronouns all this time has made me anxious that I'd slip and use a female pronoun before we know she's a girl.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad to be finally rid of Naoto's dungeon (writing that was both fun and grueling at the same time). Currently a little low on motivation, so if chapters come out slower about 2ish weeks from now, don't be surprised.

9/20:

“You see… the truth is, I… I...”

Sunset. Samegawa Flood Plain. A boy listening. A girl speaking. The calm light of the sun being reflected off of the river and into the girl’s face, yet hiding the boy’s.

“I… I love you, Senpai! Please go out with me!”

The boy’s face remained unchanged, yet the girl’s face looked exasperated. As if saying those words took out a lot of energy from her. She breathed heavily, waiting for a response.

“Rise…” the way the boy said it gave off no hints of neither accepting it nor denying it.

“It’s just… you’re cool, and confident, and good-looking, and… perfect! I always thought that there’s no way someone as perfect as you could come into my life, yet here you are!”

Rise’s eyes began to water, “I’ve looked up to you since the day I met you. You were there for me, you were my friend, you didn’t judge me, you were everything to me!”

Tears fell, “So please… please just… let me give that to you. Let me give back everything you already were to me.”

It was a while before the boy said anything. Eventually, he found it right to put it as follows.

“I… I’m sorry, but…”

Rise looked up with dark fear on her face.

The figure adjusted his face, revealing gray-silver hair with an expressionless face.

“I’m already in a relationship with another girl.”

Rise’s breath came out shallow at Yu’s response. Did he just…

No. She must have heard him wrong. There’s no way that another worthless girl already got to him. Did she know how much he was to her? Did she know about all those nights she spent dreaming about him? Things could have been so good between the two of them. They were practically  _ made _ for each other! But now, all because of some stupid  _ whore _ , her living embodiment of perfection just cast her away?

Yu could see her trembling, “R-Rise…”

He reached out to touch her, but she slapped his hand,  _ “Don’t touch me.” _

Rise turned around, brought her hands to her eyes, and ran away, promising that if she was going to cry, she would not weep.

And failing.

“RISE!” Yu called out to her, but it was no use. She was long gone. Both physically and emotionally.

Yu considered chasing her, and tensed up to prepare to run, but he thought better of it. Instead, he just stared at the ever-shrinking silhouette of Rise’s broken and injured figure running away.

…

7:05. 5 minutes after my shift ended. I was driving back to the tofu shop and not planning on leaving immediately. These past nights at the Shiroku Pub have been enjoyable, since I was now able to spend my nights away from home. However, I still needed to do my job, and I couldn’t  _ always _ go to the pub. So, I figured that I’d stick around. I  _ have _ been working with Ms. Kujikawa since the start of the year after all.

I stopped outside of the tofu shop, but this time I turned off the engine. I figured I was going to stay for at least an hour, and if I kept my car running just so it would get going easier, then I’d lose too much gas, and I’ve been trying to cut down on losing gas money, even though I’d been working every day at the tofu shop up until June, earning me more than enough money.

I stepped into the warm atmosphere of the small shop. The shop was very small, so the heating system was much better than in the school, or at home. 

Ms. Kujikawa handed me my paycheck, but I asked her if I could stay for a while.

“Of course, Takari-kun!” she said as if it were obvious, “You’re always welcome to stay.”

“Thanks.” I told her humbly.

I stepped behind the curtains to reveal the small living room I once sat in a while ago. From there, I caught an odd sight; Rise was curled up in a ball on the couch, eyes red, food crumbs on her mouth, candy wrappers littering the floor.

_ Something’s not right here… _

She looked up glumly at me, “Oh, hey…”

I sat down on the one free spot on the couch, “Hey. You alright?”

“ ‘m fine.” she muttered.

“You sure?” I asked.

Just then, Ms. Kujikawa entered the living room, “Oh, excuse Rise dear. She’s been in a sour mood ever since she got home, and has barely even spoken to me.”

“Gramma…” Rise would’ve said it with more force if her voice weren’t as hoarse.

“Come on, Rise-san,” I said reassuringly, “What’s wrong?”

“I said it’s nothing…” her voice was muffled from behind her arms, which were tucking her knees tightly into her chest.

I sighed, “Here. I know something that’ll cheer you up.”

I stood up, “Why don’t I take you to get something to eat? It’s no use cryin’ on an empty stomach.”

She hummed. It was 10 seconds before she responded, “Mkay. But you’re paying.”

“Fine. And I’m not pickin’ you up.”

She groaned. Still tucked into a ball, she rolled off of the couch, and onto her wrappers on the floor, “Gimme 5 minutes.”

I tapped her with my foot, “5 minutes will turn into 10. It’s now, or I’m goin’ home.”

Finally, she exited from her spherical state, and stretched her limbs, “Mmmmmfine.”

She eventually got up, and we both walked over to Aiya’s from across the street. She ordered a small size bowl, while I got the medium.

A few minutes later, a girl from behind the counter handed us our food.

“That’s one small bowl, and one medium bowl.” she said in an expressionless state.

“Thanks,” I told her. 

However, I felt as if her face was familiar; she had blue hair, and was dressed in a red apron.

“By the way,” I began, “Have I seen you before…?”

She turned to me, “Now that you mention it, you kinda look familiar too.”

“Do you deliver for Aiya’s?” I asked, “You’re on that scooter, right?”

She nodded, “You deliver for Mrs. Kujikawa using that Toyota out there.”

“That’s right.”

She put her hand to her chin, “You’re a pretty good driver for a kid your age. Your car sucks though.”

I sighed, “I know. I’ve been meaning to get it fixed and even modified, but my old man won’t let me borrow any money until it breaks down.”

“I feel your pain.”

She looked towards Rise, “What’s wrong with her-”

“I… wouldn’t…” I warned her.

She shrugged, and went back behind the counter.

Food seemed to cheer Rise up a little. I had to get her to drink some water, and even though she didn’t express it, I knew that she was glad I was so understanding of her crying. However, I still didn’t exactly know why she was in this state, but I felt like that was a minefield to cross once we got back.

Eventually, I decided to get one to go, and we both headed back. She went back to curling up in a ball on the couch, so I draped her in a blanket, while I gave her the one I got to go.

Eventually, Ms. Kujikawa headed upstairs, so it was just me and Rise in the living room.

“So... “ I began, “Anything in particular causing you to be so down in the dumps?”

She looked away, “Nothing.”

I shrugged, “Ok.’

She continued to look away, so I decided to keep talking.

“I mean, it’s not like I had to buy you food to cheer you up. Or drape you in a blanket while you ate all of the snacks in the house.”

She still wouldn’t look at me.

I sighed, “You know, Rise? You’re probably wondering why I’m going out of my way to help you right now.”

Finally, she turned towards me, “Hm?”

“Why I’m helping you,” I explained, “Do you think it’s for no reason?”

She looked down, “No, but… wait. Why  _ are _ you doing this?”

I leaned back on the couch, “Rise, when you first met me, you took  _ me _ out to eat. You listened to  _ my _ problems. It felt like you cared about me. So, I felt it only necessary to care about you. So, if you don’t wanna tell me, then that’s up to you, but if I could barely hold it in me for all this time, then I doubt you could.”

It was a while before she said anything. Eventually, she sighed, and relaxed her shoulders.

“It’s… Narukami…”

“What, that kid?” I asked, “What’d  _ he _ do?”

“Everything!” her voice raised a little, “He was nice, calm, caring, charming, good looking… everything! He was everything… everything to me… and-”

Her voice was cut off by sobs, “And… he… he…”

She couldn’t go on; the tears were too fast, but I understood enough. As she was crying, I patted her back, “There, there. It’s all right.”

“It’s not alright!” she snapped, “Do you know how much he was to me? How perfect he was? He meant the world to me, but instead of him returning the favor, some worthless  _ whore _ gets all his attention! All of his perfection!”

After that mini-rant, she went back to crying. I felt slightly bad; what even could you say to something like that? I then tried to consider what she told me, and I found a response.

“Rise…”

_ No, she needs to give me her full attention. _

“Rise… look at me.”

Her entire body shaking, she slowly turned towards me as I continued.

“There will be a time in your life when you realize that perfection in a boy, or rather perfection in anything, is simply impossible.”

She would’ve asked me what I was talking about if she wasn’t trembling as badly.

“No matter how perfect something may seem on the outside, no matter how blinding that false truth may be, there will  _ always _ be a flaw.  **Always.** ”

Rise just looked at me, “Y-You’re saying that… Senpai really isn’t perfect?”

I closed my eyes, “Deep down, everyone has flaws. Deep down, everyone strives for perfection, but are always miles off. Yu just so happens to be quite good at getting close to it. However, the more pure and bright someone may seem on the outside, the darker the inside truly is.”

I opened them again to turn to Rise, “In Narukami’s case, he acted as if he was perfect, but when you confronted him, you realized that he already had a girlfriend, shattering your ‘perfect’ view of him.”

I stood up, “No one’s perfect, Rise. Everyone has flaws. You see, love… I like to refer to love as a package deal; if you want one positive thing from someone, you’re gonna get the ups  _ and _ downs from them. The thing about love is learning to accept both…”

I turned away, “And if you can’t handle Yu’s downs, then he was never the right guy for you.”

I slowly walked out, “Get better soon…  _ Rise-chan. _ ”

9/21:

“For the record… you suck at rejections.”

Yu turned towards me, slight shock on his face showing for a split second before returning back to its original state as he understood, “I forgot you work at Rise home… she told you didn’t she?”

“You more or less broke her down, piece by piece. How  _ couldn’t _ I notice?”

I turned my neck sideways, “Lemme guess… Yukiko?”

“W-What?” Now I got him.

I grinned, “Come on, it wasn’t that hard to figure out. You two visiting the sweet shop together on the school trip, the hushed whispers you shared, hell, you even snuck a look at the chopsticks to get Yukiko’s number during the King’s Game, which was pretty impressive, even for my standards.”

Yu looked like he was about to say something, but quickly closed his mouth.

“So, how many others know?” I asked.

“Assuming Rise hasn’t figured it out yet, you, and Yosuke.”

I snorted, “How’d  _ he _ figure it out?”

“He didn’t. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Oh, geez! He walked in on you? That’s gotta hurt…”

“Thankfully, he’s a pretty reliable guy,” he admitted.

“I could only imagine…” I noted, “Anyways, you messed up Rise pretty good yesterday. I had to buy her food and teach her about love and everything.”

“What was I supposed to do? Accept her?”

“Look, I wasn’t there, but unless Rise’s twice as sensitive than anyone else, then I know for a fact that you were far too blunt.”

“I get that a lot, but Rise’s also pretty sensitive, which I should’ve seen coming…”

Yu’s phone then rang. He hesitantly picked it up, and talked for a bit.

“Sorry, I gotta run.” He said after he hung up, “It was Yukiko.”

Now, I could have made a thousand jokes with my newfound knowledge of their relationship, but I chose not to take a single one, and instead did this:

“Take care.” And I let him go.

…

As I was walking home, I came across a little girl along the side of the road. She was alone, and crying. I could tell she was lost, but the question was whether I should help her or not.

I felt guilty about leaving her there, so I walked up to her.

“You lost, kid?”

She looked up with wide, teary eyes, “Y-Yes…”

“How’d you get here, anyways?”

She had trouble speaking, “M-My mommy told me I couldn’t keep a puppy… so I ran away… but now I… I…”

She started crying once more.

I sighed, “It’s your own fault for running away in the first place."

No response, as expected, “Sure, what your mom did was wrong, but if you learned to stay where you were, this wouldn’t have happened.”

She just cried harder.

“Look, kid, if you’re not gonna respond, there’s not much I can do, so speak up.”

She missed her last chance.

“Tch. This is a busy street. You’re someone else’s problem.”

While I did feel guilty about walking away, I  _ had _ told her to respond, and she refused, so she more or less asked me to do this.

Fortunately, a minute later, a silver haired boy came across her, and spoke to her in a much kinder way, causing her to open up, and give him enough info to take her back home...

9/22:

“Hey, watch it,  _ kid _ .”

I had just bumped into a girl taking up too much space in the middle of the hall. Under normal circumstances, I would apologize, and move on, even though I was older than her. It would save me the effort and the time of confronting her, and creating a scene. But now, I didn’t care. It’s not like I had anything to lose.

I looked in her direction, and merely laughed, with a slight grin on my face.

As I turned around, I heard her snap even more aggressively this time, “What was that,  _ kid _ ?”

Now she was walking towards me. I slowly turned around, and greeted her with a cold, steely tone.

“Might you be talking to me,  _ girl _ ?”

She stood up to me, clearly trying to be the bigger figure here, but I was taller than her by an inch.

“You’d better watch where you’re going, pal. And wipe that smugness out of your voice.”

I simply scoffed, and began to walk away.

“Where do you think  _ you’re _ going?”

Just as I was about to round the corner to the stairs, she stood in my way, blocking me from my destination, “You still owe me an apology,  _ kid _ .”

“For what? Huwting your feewings?” I taunted.

I smirked, “Get outta my way,”

“Oh, you're probably the type who goes around looking for trouble, eh?”

I sighed, “If I was looking for trouble, I wouldn’t be asking you to move. Get out of my way.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen your type around. You act all high and mighty, yet you cower once things get violent.”

My smile faded, “Get out of my way. Now.”

“Pussies like you should know their place. Why don’t you run along and promise me you won’t ever cross my line of sights again?”

“This is the last time I will say it; get out of my way.”

“Ha! You, telling me to get out of  _ your _ way? Sit down, kid, before I-”

I don’t even remember doing it. All I know is that it happened. The halls went quiet as the few people in the correct line of sight witnessed what just happened. Now, I wasn’t no Kanji Tatsumi, for I didn’t go around purposefully picking fights, but when I needed to do it, I did it without hesitation.

“W-Wh-Who… do you think… you are!?”

I merely looked down on her pitifully, “You brought this upon yourself.”

I then spit on her, shoved my hands in my pockets, and exited down the stairs before a teacher came.

…

As I walked down the street and through the shopping district, I figured that I’d need to let Mrs. Kujikawa know ahead of time that I would be taking the night shift this time. As I continued on the path, I was waiting for someone to come. Someone I knew I would not have to chase down, and someone I knew would come directly to me.

Sure enough, I felt a cold chill run down my spine (which I ignored), and I found a guy creep out of seemingly nowhere, and approach me.

“Well, well, well… what do we have here…?”

I stopped in my tracks.

“Someone thinks he can get away with touchin’ anyone he likes, huh?”

I turned around to be greeted with a man in a fur coat, long boots, and with 7 rings across both of his hands.

I chuckled, “You must be the boyfriend of that bitch I hit earlier today.”

“What did you call her?" he growled, "You punks need to be taught your place in the world!”

An arm was winding up, with 3 rings on his dominant hand. I raised my forearm to block his punch, while I threw a punch at lightning speeds towards his stomach.

He hunched over, blood emulating from his mouth. Now that his guard was off, I hit him with the same fist, and in the jaw.

The uppercut landed him on the floor, and he was about to get up, when I placed my foot on his chest, and applied pressure.

His hands wandered towards my leg, attempting to relieve the pressure, but I simply raised it again, and kicked him in the face.

At this point, I figured he didn’t have enough strength to attempt another round, but he surprisingly was still able to talk.

“W-Wh-Who… do you think… you are!?”

This time, I answered his question, “I think I’m the guy who just beat up the most popular girl in the school’s boyfriend.”

Rather than finishing him off, I walked away, having long since lost interest.

Hiding from behind the corner, Rise physically shivered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be honest, how many of you thought that Rise was asking out Takari in the opening instead of Yu?


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We did it, 1,000 hits! Thanks so much for all of your attention on this fanfic, I never expected we'd get here so early. Seeing those 4 digits gives me a sense of accomplishment for writing this. Also, I received some criticism, and realized that I absolutely suck at writing fights... but that just helps me improve in the future I guess. It's probably not going to be this fanfic's only flaw, but oh well. I mean, there's really no 'wrong' way to write a certain scene, cuz that's fanfiction; everyone had their own take on different things.

_ “Love is like a package deal… you get both the ups and downs…” _

As I was walking away, Rise stood behind the corner, thinking about what she had just witnessed, and about what she had heard 2 days ago. On the outside, to her he seemed like a kind, caring friend who was there for Rise in her darkest hour. However, as Rise thought on and on, she started to realize who he was on the inside; a quiet, yet intimidating figure that… 

She didn’t quite know how to elaborate. All she knew was that he was quite different on the inside than the outside. Granted, everyone else was like that as well. Yu was a good person on the outside, yet a terrible rejecter on the inside.

She made a mistake with Yu, thinking that he was a perfect knight in shining armor, and being unprepared for the cold truth. 

She would not make the same mistake twice.

She punched a number into her phone, and brought the phone up to her ear.

“S’up Rise?”

“Hi, uhh… can you meet me at the top of the hill overlooking the town? I need to tell you something in private.”

A slight pause, “Sure. I’ll be there in a half hour.”

The line went dead.

As she put the phone back down again, she assessed what she got into; if she was turned down once more, she was prepared to face it. It was selfish of her to debate so hard about him, and not consider him debating about  _ her _ . As for if he didn’t do that… then it merely proved her right.

Determined, she set out to the meet-up location.

…

It was a lot colder than she imagined that day, so she had to put on a scarf and sweater. As she was trekking up the hill, the winds battered her ferociously, causing her to shiver. Step after step, she was determined to overcome this mountain, both physically and mentally.

But she had already reached the top, and she took a moment to look down and catch her breath. When she finally looked up, she saw a single figure with his back turned to her. He was dressed in a dark coat that was being blown by the wind, and his long, wavy hair was slightly moved by the wind as well.

But his stance remained unchanged. He knew she was there, but he was waiting for her to make the move.

He wouldn’t have to wait long.

“Umm… Takari-san…?”

“You said you wanted to tell me something…” the figure slowly turned around, revealing his face…

“Y-Yes…” she stated nervously, “It’s something I had on my mind for a while now…”

“Go on,” I told her unwaveringly.

“Well, remember when you told me that you get both the good and the bad from a person?”

“Of course I do.”

“Well… I’ve taken a closer look at Senpai, and…” she was having trouble spitting it out, but I didn't bother helping her, “I’ve noticed something about him. He seems too good to be true. He’s perfect in almost every way I can think of, but… almost.”

She continued, “He has some flaws, like not knowing how to deal with people in the best way, and being too darn blunt all the time. You on the other hand… you gave me the advice I needed to get through this. Without you, I probably never would’ve moved on.”

My face remained unreadable.

“You don’t seem like some ‘knight in shining armor’ as much, but for the things that Senpai struggles with, you excel in.”

“Hmm…” I thought about this, “Interesting…”

I mean, you’re cool, intimidating… kind… to me, strong, smart, and… someone who cares about me.”

I hummed, “What about everything  _ wrong _ with me?”

“H-Hmm?” Rise stuttered.

I looked her sharply in the eyes, “You’ve told me the ups. Now tell me the downs.”

“You…” This was even trickier, “You are a little too aggressive at times, you aren’t afraid to do things most people would be scared stiff of, you don’t seem too understanding to a situation, and you…”

“...I’m what?” I asked.

“You’re… a little scary at times. You scare me sometimes.”

“Really?” I asked.

“F-For instance, when you found that girl on the side of the road, you just left her there. And when you got in a fight, you almost knocked out both of them. When you were comforting me, rather than speaking in a calm voice, you spoke to me like it wasn't as big a deal. I mean, I get it, the truth hurts, but.. you weren’t as blunt about it.”

I breathed in; turns out I hadn’t underestimated her.

“But… these are flaws that I’m willing to accept… so i-is that who you are?”

“You know who I am, Rise?” I asked sharply, “Not a good person. You basically explained my entire life in front of me; someone who lacks understanding, and is too reckless for their own good. So, I’d say, yeah. That’s what I am.”

She smiled slightly, “T-Then I think I’m willing to live with those downs… in favor of the ups. N-Now, what about me? Who am I to you?”

I breathed in, and decided momentarily what to say.

“For starters, you’re an idol. You obviously look amazing, and have a cheerful aura around you. You’re kind, caring, understanding, and, frankly, a good person. Everything I’m not. However, because of this sing-song attitude, you have a hard time dealing with serious situations. You’re good at reading people, but don’t exactly know what to do with this information. You seem clingy to Narukami before he rejected you, and you are quite sensitive at times.”

I shrugged, “And yet, that’s what I like about you.”

“HMM!?!?” Rise expressed.

I chuckled, “Sometimes, you’re so sensitive, it’s almost cute. You’re very expressive, and you know how to make light of a dark situation, even if it’s not appropriate for the time or place, you still try.”

I sighed, “But, there’s one thing in particular that you’ve done… see, before I met you, no one wanted to get to  _ know _ me. No one took me out to eat, suggested a sleepover when I couldn’t stay at home, or even became my friend. However, when I met you, I wasn’t expecting you to  _ care _ about me. Yet… you did.”

I walked towards her, “So, why can’t  _ I _ care about  _ you _ ?”

“You… does this mean…” she stammered.

I shrugged, “Evidently, yes. You care about me, and I care about you.”

A warm smile found its way on my lips, “We’ll work from there. How does that sound?”

Instead of overloading with joy, she was filled with a sense of relief, and she relaxed, and returned the warm smile, “It sounds good!”

I offered her my arm, “Shall I walk you home?”

She smirked, “Oh, please. I’m not so helpless that I can’t walk myself home.”

Even so, she took my arm.

We walked calmly down the road back to Rise’s house, just enjoying each others’ company. Once we got there, I’d bet 1,000 yen that Rise’s grandmother knew exactly what just happened. And dammit, bless her soul for being so understanding.

Rise then took one last look at me, “See you… tomorrow, yeah?”

I smiled, “Sure.”

She walked back in the house. Once she was gone, I walked the trek up to the hill, and found my car parked there. I sat down, and turned it on (which took a while).

As I was idling, I took a second to realize what I’d done. Rise had, essentially, become my girlfriend. After her tragic rejection from Yu, she still had the courage to ask yet another person out after that.

_ Well, I wouldn’t call it ‘asking out’  _ I thought,  _ She explained to me my ups and downs, and asked me to do the same, and things sorta developed from there. _

But, Rise had come to  _ me _ , and I merely responded in an appropriate manner. If she liked  _ me, _ then what does that mean about me? I couldn’t say for  _ sure _ that I was attracted to Rise; I mean, she was nice, and she cared about me, but… going so far as to display such admiration to one person for such an extended amount of time was… foreign.

I then realized it; she  _ liked _ me. And when we dated for long enough, she’d probably  _ love _ me. All of the natural things for a girl like her to do.

As for me, I assumed that I might like Rise as a partner, but… I don’t know if I could ever love anything again. Not after what I’d lost...

As I was thinking I felt a tingling sensation in my head. It soon turned into a splitting headache, and before I knew it, I was clutching my head, trembling.

Soon, my vision became obstructed, but I couldn’t tell by what. I felt as if it was due to the headache, but this was more. This didn’t feel like physical pain, this felt like my mental state was shattering.

_ Why here… why… now- _ Somehow, my own thoughts became obstructed. I felt no pain in my forehead, however my mind itself was splitting into two.

And then, a massive wave burst through my consciousness, and I began to see something else. It was like I was seeing 2 things at once, but I was looking at the exact same image; the dashboard, and the hill overlooking the town. It was difficult to explain.

However, as my mind split farther and farther into the two separate worlds, I saw something in one of them. The one single thing that allowed me to distinguish them.

In one world, Rise was holding onto my arm as we walked down the path. In the other, she was holding…

_ Is that…? _ No. It couldn’t be.

Magically, I saw Rise arm in arm with Yu Narukami in a separate world. I felt as if they were in a different world; not an illusion, but a possible outcome that shone above all others.

But suddenly, I felt my vision return to normal, and all figures in my line of sight disappeared, as well as all traces of headaches, mental stress, or any form of insanity. I was left breathing heavily for seemingly no reason. I felt fine… yet at the same time I felt terrible.

I decided to simply shift the car into gear, and drive home, attempting to forget that any of that ever happened.

…

9/28:

Time had passed. Me and Rise spent a considerable amount of time together. In this time, Naoto had fully recovered, and was now set to rejoin school. However, she had done a considerable amount of research on Teddie, and was unable to figure out who he was or how he came to be. So, she decided to have him examined. Along with everyone else, that is. 

Her reasoning was that the TV World might have had some physical effects upon us, so she just wanted to be safe and make sure we were in good physical health. I’d say I was alright in health, however I was worried about a particular result on the examination…

Once everyone else was done with their examination, we all met up, and discussed the results.

“I had the doctors examine Teddie,” Naoto explained, “They found out that they can’t tell anything about him.”

“Nothing?” I asked, “What about the x-ray?”

She merely shook her head, “The results were too obstructed. It appeared as if he was lacking bones in certain areas. While it might be a malfunction of the hospital, I’d say otherwise.”

“I-I’m all empty inside?” Teddie asked worryingly, “They couldn’t find anything else about me? Not even where I came from, or anything?”

Naoto shook her head sadly, “Nope. Sorry little guy.”

“Little guy.” Yosuke said with the slightest hint of irony directed at Naoto.

“Well, it’s awfully em-bear-assing for only my results to be posted, so look what I got!”

He whipped out a stack of papers and showed them to everyone.

“All of our physical examination results, right here! Now, let’s see who has the shortest legs…”

“Wait a minute…” Yosuke wondered shakily, “What exactly did they measure?”

My eyes widened; if they measured obsolete shit like that, then they must have measured…

I shot over to Teddie, and snatched my results from out of his hands.

“Hey! No stealing!” he yelled.

“W-Who’s results did you take…?” Chie asked.

“My own.” I said, not looking up.

I then found the section of results I was looking for, and-

**“What do you mean ‘Results posted from past examinations’!?!?”**

“What’s wrong, Takari?” Yosuke asked, “Too shy to tell?”

I groaned, and shoved my paper in my pocket, “This isn’t anything embarrassing, like my chest size or anything, it’s just private info.”

“Well, since the girls haven’t snatched their papers away yet, why don’t we take a peek at theirs?” Yosuke suggested.

All of the girls looked shocked except for Rise.

“Go right ahead. I’m an idol after all.”

“Such boldness…” I muttered.

She grinned, “You already know it!”

“Ohh, so that’s what you guys mean.” Teddie finally figured it out, “Well in that case, let’s start with Yuki-chan!”

“W-Whaat?” Her voice cracked so hard it was painful.

“Hmm…" He stated as he flipped open her results, "*tsk* *tsk* *tsk* I’ll say, it’s not bad, but it  _ could _ use a little more…”

“Ooh, what, what?” Rise said eagerly, “Lemme see, Ted!”

She peeked over his shoulder, and smirked.

“Mine are bigger, hehehe…”

“I-I think that’s quite enough.” Yukiko stammered.

“Yeah,” I agreed, “Stop bullying her cuz her tits are too small.”

“Hmm, you’re right.” Teddie said, “In that case, let’s move to Nao-doll!”

Kanji widened his eyes. As for Nao-doll, who was standing right next to them, she just found an unnatural shade of pink written across her face.

“Yeah, let’s see Naoto’s.” Rise goaded, “I bet that since she pretended to be a boy, they mustn’t be too… too… big?”

“W-What is it?” Kanji asked nervously.

She looked to Naoto, “Naoto, I think yours are even bigger than mine.”

Kanji was now gasping for air.

“No, no, no, Rise-chan,” Teddie complained, “You’re looking at it all wro… hoh… HOO BOY, never mind!”

“Ngh… s-seriously?” Kanji sputtered.

Naoto then snatched the medical files, and ran out of the room in a fit of embarrassment.

“HEY! We still have two more girls to see!” Yosuke called out.

“Gimme those back! They were mine!” Teddie yelled.

“Nooo! I wanna see the guys’ measurements!” Rise protested.

All of them ran out of the room, so it was just me and Kanji left.

“B-bigger than… Rise’s…?”

As the rest of the Investigation Team clambered over each other, and as Kanji was having a mid-life crisis due to Naoto’s bust size, I began to... admire him in a sense. He has the ability to admire someone in such a powerful way to the point where he would freak out over something so… irrelevant, if that’s the correct word. To show such admiration towards one single person, and to always want to look after them, to make sure they’re safe…

The feeling was… foreign to me.

“Hey, Kanji,” I asked carefully, “What’s it like to be in love?”

“H-Huh?” Kanji responded almost immediately.

“To be in love. How is it?”

Probably a little too blunt...

“What!? Why’re you askin’ me, h-how would I know!?”

“I don’t mean ‘in love’ as in you’re in a relationship, just… what’s it like to care so much about someone to the point where you can’t stop admiring them…?”

“Uhm, well…” he didn’t quite have a clue on how to answer it, but he was getting there, “I… guess it’s nice, in a sense. W-Why do you wanna know, anyway?”

I leaned back in my seat, “I’ve always wanted to know.”

“H-Have you never… loved anyone before?”

“Not really. The concept of love is blurred to me. Never had any supporting parent figures, and all the girls I’ve dated I’ve never really had anything ‘special’ with.”

“Geez, that’s rough man. So like… you never had anyone care about you?”

“Well, I had a couple friends, and- wait…”

I stared intensely at Kanji for a moment, and concluded, “You know who you remind me of…? Sakamoto.”

“Who’s Sakamoto?” Kanji asked innocently.

“An old friend…” I reminisced, “Back in the day, it was just the three of us; me, Sakamoto, and…”

I looked down, “None of us knew the third one’s name. We always used to just call him “Shift”. The three of us used to get in a lotta trouble back then, but it was worth it. We always drive around town, causing trouble, cuz Shift could drive back then. Shift always tried to avoid as many people as possible except us, Sakamoto was a stereotypical ‘chad’, really good with people, but not too smart, and I was the middle ground, in a way.

“We used to visit street gangs, and get into fights, just for the hell of it. Shift had nothing to live for, Sakamoto wanted to ‘better the world’, and I didn’t quite know why I fought.”

“I fought cuz of my Ma. These biker gangs were keeping her up all night, so I taught ‘em a lesson.”

“Trust me, if we were around back then, we probably would’ve dealt with them already. But… things have changed since then…”

Kanji looked at me with concern, “W-What happened to you guys…?”

I sighed, “Sakamoto died. I watched him. He got shot by a punk. After that… things fell apart.”

“Shit, man. I-I’m sorry…” Kanji shared his empathy.

“Yeah, I’m sorry too.” I agreed, “You reminded me of him cuz of how damn strong he was. Always upbeat, laughing, and a tad clumsy. But, after he died, me and Shift never knew how much we needed him.”

I stood up, “The guys’ll probably be back soon, we should get going.”

“S-Sure…”

Me and Kanji walked out of the hospital room, where we eventually met up with the guys. Several of them had bruises due to attempting to get to the sheet of papers out from Naoto’s grip, but they had failed.

I sighed deeply, “I’m only going to say this once:”

Their ears perked up, “You’re all a bunch of dumbasses.”

“We know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, you're never going to know who said that last line. Also FIRST BEAR PUN, LET'S GOOO!!. Some of you might want to know a little about Takari, so I did the honors of putting his bio in here. No other reason, just felt like it (it's my fanfic, you're not obligated to read it)
> 
> Name: Aragaki, Takari  
> Date of Birth: December 14th, 1992  
> Location of Birth: Kyoto, Japan  
> Height: 182 cm (6 ft.)  
> Weight: 54 kg (119 lbs.)  
> Knowledge: ⋆⋆⋆⋆  
> Courage: ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆  
> Diligence: ⋆⋆⋆⋆  
> Expression: ⋆⋆⋆  
> Understanding: ⋆⋆  
> Hair: Black, long, wavy, unkempt. Very long at the back, medium length at the front.  
> Eye color: Black  
> Clothing preference: Long, thick blazer resembling a suit jacket, large red tie, black sweatpants.  
> Physical Performance: Lightweight, extremely fast reaction time + blow speed, resilient to most blows  
> Strengths: Wise, calculating, humble, quiet (on occasion).  
> Weaknesses: Lacking in sympathy, intimidating/rough (on occasion),   
> Medical Record: [Files Lost]
> 
> Next chapters will be a double update, cuz they're kinda boring...


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said this and next chapter are gonna be a little slow, so that's why I'm doing a double post. Basic schedule of these two chapters: first half is the boring bit, and second half is Takari/Rise. If you don't wanna see the boring bit, CTRL + F to "10/03:"

10/01:

I once saw an old lady walking down the street carrying a baby, and some punk ‘accidentally’ knocked into her. The old lady nearly fell over, and the baby was holding an ice cream cone, which he dropped. The ice cream fell out of the baby’s hand and landed in the road, where it got run over by a car, and the kid’s cry was the most tragic thing I had ever heard...

Until I heard the sound of my engine dying this afternoon.

It wasn’t just a case of it not turning on, it was pathetic at even  _ trying _ to turn on. It gave one, two, three, four slow wheezes before eventually shutting off entirely. Simply slamming the hood wouldn’t do anything either, since it’d still just instantly turn off, but I had a feeling it died  _ because _ I tried to slam it for so long.

“Oi, kid!” A guy called from his car, “You can’t park there, it’s the middle of the road.”

“I know I can’t bloody park here, I’ve broken down.”

“You can’t break down here, it’s the middle of the road.”

“Oh, for god’s sake, I didn’t MEAN to break down here!”

I huffed, “Next time I’ll make sure to break down on the side of the road!”

The driver shrugged, and simply drove around me. Everyone behind him just gave me looks of pity as they saw the 1991 piece-of-shit hand-me-down Toyota and its pitiful attempts to start.

I eventually concluded that I’d have to manually fix this car.

I cursed. I didn’t know two shits about the insides of a car, even though I always wanted to learn. My lazy-ass always said I’d learn, yet would do absolutely nothing to actually learn. 

_ Guess this’ll push me to finally learn... _

I settled on bringing out my phone, and calling a mechanic. I told him my problems, and he said he’d need to get a description of what was going on under the hood. I told him I was in the middle of the road, so he guided me through the steps to get my car running again. However, it was a temporary fix; I’d need to get to a place where I could easily work on my car.

That meant I’d need to drive 2 miles to my garage back at home. The journey was slightly unstable, but I got there before it conked out again. The garage wasn’t open, and was littered with junk, so I rushed in, and cleared out as much stuff as I could. I then pressed the remote, and opened the garage from outside. I stepped into my car, and reversed it into the large storage space slowly.

As I got out and punched in the mechanic’s phone number, my dad decided to show up, and question me.

“Why are you home so early?”

I pointed to the hood, “It finally happened.”

His jaw dropped, “It conked out? Dammit, it held up for so long…”

“I  _ told _ you that you needed to get it fixed, now  _ I  _ gotta do it.”

“Why don’t you just call a mechanic and have him install it?” he suggested.

“I was just about to call a mechanic, but I’m not having him install anything.”

“Why not?” he asked.

“With those prices? I’d rather just buy the parts and fix it myself.”

“You sure you can do that…?”

I shrugged, “It’d take a while, but with a little help from a mechanic, I can do it… hopefully.”

“Just don’t make it anymore fucked up than it already is.”

“Believe me, it’d be hard to do that considering how old this thing is.” I responded.

He shrugged, and went back inside for another beer.

I sighed; I had a LOT of work to do…

…

“Yeah, I know what the problem is…” Flynn sighed, “Your transmission’s busted.”

“Shit…” I whispered under my breath.

“Parts’ll probably be around 50,000 to 100,000 yen, and installation itself will be another 150,000 to 200,000…”

“Yeah, about that… I was talking to my father just before I called you, and I suggested that I’d fix it myself.”

Flynn seemed perplexed by that proposition, “I mean, you could try, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It ain’t easy to replace a transmission, and if you don’t know much about cars, it’s not likely you’ll fix it.”

I sighed, “Then, I’ll just look online. They have car tips there, right?”

“Like I said, you could try. If it doesn’t work out, borrow some money from your old man, and bring it to me.”

I nodded, before realizing he couldn’t see me, “Maybe. We’ll cross that bridge when-  _ if _ we get there.”

“Call me if anything comes up.” he told me.

I nodded, “I will…”

I hung up. I then decided to consult my father about cars from the garage.

“Oi! You know anything about engines and shit?”

“Nah, sorry man.”

Another dead end. I’d have to go to the library to see if they have any books about engines, because school was way too far away to walk to, and if I couldn’t drive there, I couldn’t get to school at all unless I wanted to wake up at 5:30 A.M. and risk rush hour every morning. 

However, a very harsh ping in my chest omitted when I realized I couldn’t deliver anymore. I dreaded having to explain to Mrs. Kujikawa about my troubles, and even worse; facing Rise.

With a heavy heart, I pulled out my phone to tell the school that I wasn’t going to be there for a few days. I then phoned Mrs. Kujikawa, and told her I couldn’t deliver for the week to follow (and hopefully not next week).

Thankfully, she took it very well, so that was one weight off of my chest.

Next, I walked for 30 minutes over to the bookstore, and asked them if they had any books about cars.

I eventually found a book from my car’s generation, and flipped it open. Fortunately, I found my specific model, and discovered that it was a tuner car, which could be easily modified to go even faster. I also discovered that certain low-end turbochargers cost no less than 40,000 yen, so I latched my sights on the possibility of that.

However, I still needed to find books which gave me knowledge on HOW to install these parts, so I decided to look deeper. I used the district’s good service to search on the web, and I found some helpful tips on my engine.

After about 2 whole hours of research, I decided to take some of the books home, and see if I could buy the remaining parts from Flynn once I figured out which parts I needed.

Once I got home, I looked around at some of the stuff I moved out of the way to fit my car. Coincidentally, there was a toolbox, which every dad in the world probably owned. Strangely, it wasn’t a modern toolbox; containing parts from decades ago.

Fortunately, the car was pretty old as well, so that meant the tools might be able to work with my engine’s model. I took a peek under the hood, and slowly figured out what I needed to do. The parts all slowly started to make sense to me, and before I knew it, I figured out where the transmission was located. 

However there was one problem: it was located BEHIND the engine, meaning I couldn’t just open the hood and do the whole thing from there. At some point, I’d need to crawl under the engine.

Which meant I’d need to figure out a way to lift the car off the ground.

But, I figured that I’d get there when I got there, so for the time being, I attempted to identify the problem from the hood.

…

Progress: I had identified one problem in the transmission, but it still didn’t quite cut it. I had turned on the overhead light in the garage because I needed to close the door since it was getting dark out. I also had a portable heater in the corner, which was the only thing keeping me alive at this point. I had been at my car for about 3 hours at this point, but I hadn’t looked at my watch since it was still light out. I moved some tables so that all of the parts were neatly laid out. Since this was my first time going under the hood, I spent a lot of the time just figuring out how this thing worked, and the functionality of all the parts. I was getting a little tired, so I decided to go back inside.

Since my dad was gone, I pulled out his minifridge, got a LOT of sodas, pulled out a lawn chair and my stereo, and went back out to the garage.

I listened to some rock from the 80’s, and took a 2 hour power nap. I woke up feeling slightly more refreshed, and motivated to keep on going.

…

Ok, so I had solved ONE problem, however there were a lot more problems that I needed to fix. I had made 2 midnight trips to the mechanic to get more parts (thank god for 24 hour service), and I was screwing a bolt under my hood at the moment. From the looks of it, I needed to take out this part, and either substitute the whole part, or substitute a small part of it to make it more effective, and figuring out which one was the correct choice was proving quite the challenge. As I was figuring this out, I heard the doorbell go off. Naturally, I hit the garage door opener and threw on a sweater to be greeted with an extremely attractive woman who looked to be in her twenties. She had blonde hair, and was holding a pink purse. She dressed like she wanted to show off to everyone about how ‘lovely’ she was.

“Oh! Who might you be?” she asked in a lovely tone.

I was unfazed, “The guy who lives here… and you are…?”

“Oh! I’m an acquaintance of your father’s, sorry to bother you…”

Just then, my dad walked out from the front door, followed her gaze, and figured out I was still up.

“What’re you still doin’ up, it’s 2 A.M.”

“ **Fixing your P.O.S. car for 6 hours!** ” I responded aggressively, “Why is some girl at our doorstep at 2 A.M?”

“She’s… a friend of mine.”

I took one look at his confused face, another look at her smug face, and mentally slammed myself on the head for not figuring this out immediately.

“No way. You and her?”

The girl merely giggled, “You’re quite the smart one, you know?”

I sighed; as if there wasn’t already enough shit on my plate. First the car, then the money, now I gotta put up with my dad having a girl, gimme a break.

“I… You know what? I don’t even care anymore. I’m tired, I’m frustrated, I’m not going to bed, and I’m fixing my damn car.”

I then went back inside, and closed the garage door.

10/02:

Status report: I had slept maybe four hours, including my 2 hour power nap, and I had way too much soda and caffeine in me, so naturally the two cancelled each other out, and I was just at my usual self.

Last night, I had gained some work done, having fixed a couple problems yet not quite there yet. Today was a Sunday, so I was set on going out, and buying even more parts. Fortunately, I knew exactly which parts I’d need in order to get some progress done, such as a car jack to lift the car off the ground. I had also taken the liberty of purchasing a skateboard, and as I was walking back from Junes, I passed by Yosuke coincidentally.

“Oh, Takari-san! Hey,” he jogged over to me, and spotted the skateboard in my arm, “Oh, I didn’t know you liked to skate.”

“I don’t,” I told him, “I couldn’t skate if I tried.”

“Oh, is it a present then?”

“Who would I give it to?”

Yosuke hummed, “Good point. What’s it for, then?”

I sighed, beyond tired, “You’ll see…”

…

Once I got back, I walked in to see the girl from before lounging on the couch with my father’s arm looped around her. I walked directly past them, attempting to ignore them.

“Isn’t he supposed to be at school?” she whispered to him once she thought I was out of earshot.

“It’s Sunday, but, yeah… he’s normally not at the house this often.”

“He’s never spent this much time here before, what do you think he’s doing?”

He sighed, “Fixing that godforsaken car of his. No idea how he’s gonna do it, though…”

…

Well, with my newfound skateboard/car jack combo, it took me quite some time to figure out where the transmission was, not only because I was new to cars, but also because once I finally found it out, all my problems were instantly shown to me. Fortunately, this allowed me to cleverly figure out how to deal with this, and THANK GOD I had the correct parts to do just that.

…

A lot of time had passed. I had identified which parts were faulty, and removed almost all of them. Some parts I had to go out and buy themselves, while others I could fix just by correcting the alignment of them. Either way, things were looking quite good for that day, and as day turned into night, I found myself back at the hood. I needed to replace a certain part to allow another part on the bottom to properly function, and I found myself using scrap metal from the parts that were faulty. 

As I was working, I didn’t even notice a figure walking up to me.

“You’ve been down here for so long, what have you been doing?”

I sighed, refusing to look at the girl, “Fixing my transmission. I’ve been up for a day and a half at this point.”

“Geez, that long? How far have you gotten?”

I shrugged, “About halfway-ish… probably a little less. If I’m lucky, I get to start troubleshooting tomorrow, so I’d like to return to this if you wouldn’t mind…”

She took one last look at me before going back inside.

I exhaled heavily, and went back to fixing my car. 

After her little visit, things were going smoothly; the car was like a map in my mind, and I just needed to figure out where I was. When I got in the zone, it was actually quite fun. However, I had been up for around 18ish hours, so I decided to take a break to take a shower, and a short nap before heading back to my car, where I got some serious progress knocked out in the entirety of the night.

10/03:

After long and hard hours of working on my car, it was finally time to start troubleshooting. For the first time in nearly 2 days, I turned on my car.

Slightly bad news: it didn’t work, but I expected that.

Good news: it did something different than before, so that meant I was onto something.

A little while later, I heard something I had never before expected to hear any less than right now: my phone ring. After slamming my head on my opened hood and cursing profusely, I looked at the number.

It was Rise’s.

“Hello?” I said dully.

“Takari? Where have you been!?”

She sounded distressed, slightly. I breathed out slowly, attempting to calm my voice.

“I’m sorry. I’ve just been busy at home. I had to take some time off from everything.”

“You’ve never taken time off before this,” Rise had slight doubt in her voice, “Has something come up, or do you not…”

“What? No, nonono. I’ve just been really busy these past few days…” I responded, keeping my voice calm and quiet.

“Busy? Well then take a break, and come join me after school?”

“I… that sounds great. Where are we going?”

Fortunately, this seemed to put her in a calmer mood, “On a date, silly!”

My thought train was interrupted. This would be the first date we had ever been on, but that’s not really a point of significance, because we’d seen each other after school almost every day ever since her little confession. 

“Great. What time?”

“After school, by the floodplain.” she responded, “Hang on, I’m almost at school. I’ll see you there Takari!”

She hung up.

I looked at my watch, which read 7:44 A.M. which meant that Rise had a minute to get to class. It also meant that I had 7 hours until our date.

Acknowledging this information, I set a timer on my phone for 6 hours, and promised that I'd quit working on the car once that timer went off in order to get ready in time.

In between that time, I figured out what the problem was the first time I started it. I tested it again, and this time, a different thing happened that still didn’t turn it on. So, as I was identifying the problem, I heard the timer go off.

_ 6 hours already!? How long have I been at this shit? _ I thought in annoyance. I decided to take a second shower, steal some of my father’s girlfriend’s makeup to cover the bags under my eyes that I just noticed, tidied up my clothes, slapped on deodorant, and set out for my date.

…

Turns out, she got us steak skewers, which were amazing. Now I could see why Chie always ate steak. As we ate, we sat at the shrine overlooking the river, just enjoying the moment. 

“These are actually really good, Rise. Thanks for picking them up.” I complimented.

“Don’t mention it,” she responded, “By the way, where have you been these past few days…?”

“I’m sorry…” I apologized, “I was busy at home… like I said.”

“I mean, I get that, but this is serious. You haven’t gone to school, you haven’t been delivering, you haven’t even left the house, you don’t look like you’ve got much sleep… what is it that you’ve been doing…?”

“It’s nothing…” I said hesitantly, “It’ll be over by Friday, I promise…”

“Takari, it’s _ Monday. _ ”

“I know, but it’s been taking so long to do… I’m not sure when I’ll finish it.”

“Finish what exactly?” Rise asked, “You haven’t told me what you were doing. Is it a surprise?”

“Well… kind of. After this, I’ll be around a lot more often than before. It was just bad timing that it had to happen right as I started dating you.”

“Must be some inconvenience, huh?” she assumed.

I sighed, “Tell you what: today, I’ll get you something else after this date. How does that sound?”

She giggled, “Sure!”

After that, we enjoyed the rest of our time, and I went out to Junes to buy her snacks (it’s not TOO big of a gift, but she  _ loves _ those things). After I watched her devour half of the snacks in front of me and convince me to re-buy the snacks she just ate, our date came to a close at around 5:00.

I stopped a few meters away from the tofu shop (so Mrs. Kujikawa wouldn’t see us), with me and Rise arm in arm.

“One more thing…” Rise said nervously, “Isn’t there normally something couples do after a date…?”

“Hmm?”

She backpedaled, “I-I m-mean we don’t  _ h-have _ to, only if you really-“

That’s it: she’s too cute. I looped an arm around her neck, and pulled her in.

Rise tasted faintly of all the snacks she just ate, along with the meat skewers we had earlier. However, there was also a faint warmness to her lips, which prompted me to snake a hand over to her waist, while my other hand looped around to the back of her head.

Meanwhile, Rise was absolutely shocked at my suddenness, however she eventually went along with it, and leaned into the kiss. One of her hands went to my cheek, while the other one I felt at the back of my head as well.

Our hands drifted to different parts of our bodies before we finally broke apart.

Rise was burning red, and she looked as if she was pouting ever so slightly. It was so cute I almost laughed.

“Y-You jerk… if I had known how good that would feel I would have done it immediately.”

I chuckled,  _ “That’s  _ what you were worried about? All you had to do was ask…”

“I-It’s not that simple!” Rise sputtered.

“It’s alright…” I comforted her, “At least now you know how good it feels so we can do it every time.”

“Thanks. So… when can we see each other again, and… do that again?”

I hummed, “If I’m not done by Wednesday, then I’ll meet you for the entire rest of the day. How does that sound?”

She giggled with glee, “Sure!”

She walked down the road to her house, “See you then!” 

I smiled: it was always nice to take a break every once in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'mnotactuallyamechanicI'mjustguessingthatthisishowyoufixacardon'tjudgemeIwannabeacarguybutI'mtoolazy.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Insert interesting chapter notes here)

10/04:

It was 4 A.M., and I hadn’t gotten a wink since 24 hours ago. I was hellbent on getting the car running before I even closed my eyes for more than a second, but even then I’d only go to bed for an hour. Between the first time my car broke down and now, I had maybe gotten around 6 hours of sleep. Not for each night, but 6 hours across 2 and a half days (or 60 hours). However, I was getting close to upping that to seven; I would allow myself an hour of sleep once I heard-

And there it was. After around 20 hours of non-stop working, I finally heard it:

My car started properly.

…

In the end, I couldn’t sleep. The excitement was too much. However, I did get some rest, so at least that counts. I’d forgotten how long I was up, but I didn’t care. When I climbed in my car and turned it on first try, the feeling was so satisfying, I nearly passed out. 

However, the car’s transmission still needed some kinks worked out, since I saw some slight issues changing gears. Fortunately, at that point it was daytime, so I pulled the car back in my garage, and worked them out. However, by that point, I had gotten so good at fixing my car, they weren’t even that challenging to fix. After so much long and hard work, I had done it.

But I wasn’t done…

I still promised myself that I’d install a turbocharger for my vehicle to boost the performance, because even when it _was_ running, it was still slightly inferior. So, I went back over to Flynn’s, and bought my very last item from him for a while…

Once I got home, I instantly set to work on fixing in the turbocharger. Thankfully, I didn’t need the car jacks anymore, as it was all under the hood. Also thankfully, adding a turbocharger was a lot more simpler than fixing my transmission, however it was still slightly complicated. As I was working out the parts, I had an unexpected visitor.

“So _this_ is what you’ve been doing…”

I looked up to see Yu outside my garage, looking at my car. 

“Need something?” I asked.

He shrugged, “I was just checking to see if you were alright. You seemed distant from us. You could’ve told us you were working on your car.”

“Yeah, well I didn’t.” I snapped, “Now if you will excuse me, I’ll be getting back to this now. If I’m lucky, I’ll be completely done by tonight, and I wanna do it before I fall asleep.”

Yu hummed for a bit, “Mind if I help?”

I gave a frustrated sigh, “I _do_ mind if you’re going to help, because you’re not going to help, because what’ll end up happening is that instead of getting work done I’ll just yell at you for four hours because you’re not a mechanic.”

Yu awkwardly looked to one side before stating, “Sorry I asked…”

He turned away to leave, but I stopped him.

“Wait... “

He turned towards me carefully.

“I’ve been at this for around 3-4 days now. I’m tired, I’m frustrated, and I just want this done. I want you to know that I’m getting a little crabby after so long at work. I don’t mean to sound like a dick, but once I get this done, I’ll calm down,,, hopefully.”

“Sure thing!” He seemed awfully understanding, “Take all the time you need.”

And so, he left me to work on my car, wishing me good luck.

…

After his visit, the entire day seemed to blur by; installing the turbocharger took up half of the day, however the other half was spent attempting to get it to work. Most of the time, I messed up on many parts, probably because I’ve only had around 7 hours of downtime through the past 72 hours. Installing it was slightly difficult, but was doable with around 3 hours. However, installing it _correctly_ was where my lack of sleep really shone. While I could easily fix some mistakes, I kept making more and more, and by the time night came, I was either almost done, or eons away. I simply couldn’t work out where I was other than the exact specific parts I was working on. It was just test after test after test after test, with constant fail after fail after fail after-

And then it worked.

Beautifully

I smirked; time to give this baby a little test run...

…

Yu and Yukiko were sitting side by side, observing the night sky on a service road. They particularly liked this specific road because it was an amazing spot to stargaze, and barely any cars came down the long stretch of road. This meant that they were alone together, alone with their thoughts…

And something more.

“Look at the stars…” Yukiko started, “They look so pretty.”

“They are…” Yu agreed.

“I wish I could look at them all the time. The night sky sets such a calm mood with you…”

“I wish I could look at them all day too…” Yu turned to his girlfriend, “But, thankfully, I can look at something even more pretty all day long.”

Yukiko blushed, “Was that supposed to be a joke? It’s so cliche…”

Yu chuckled, “It’s still the truth…”

The distance between the two was gradually closing. Eventually, Yukiko closed her eyes, and just as their lips were about to touch, Yukiko interrupted them.

“Sorry, but… do you hear something?”

Yu, slightly disappointed, looked confused, “Hear something? But no one’s been down this road since-”

As a matter of fact, he _did_ hear something. It was quite hard to make out, but as he listened on and on, the sound became louder and louder. Imstanty, he realized what it was, and the faint light coming from behind them and to the right only confirmed it.

It was a car engine.

And it was the most aggressive one they had ever heard in Inaba.

…

I blasted by them at an impressive speed, more or less shattering the speed limit. However, no cops came down this road, and it was extremely straight, which were all the requirements I needed to test this thing’s drag speed and gear-shifts.

They did not disappoint.

Another thing that I loved about my improved car was the sound it made: its engine was now very aggressive, so much so that I could listen to it all day. And the smoothness, don’t even get me started on the smoothness.

I enjoyed that little test run so much, that by the time I got to the end, I decided to turn around and go yet _again_.

As I was speeding up and having way too much fun, I spotted two figures I had failed to identify on my first run. However, now I could easily identify them, and only now did I realize that they were Yukiko and Yu, no doubt on a date and looking at my speeding car.

I figured it’d be rude to blow by them a _second_ time, so I took my foot off the accelerator, and tapped the brake.

The brake lines were always good on this car, so I came to a stop with minimal resistance. Once the car’s speedometer reached “0”, I rolled down the window, and looked at the couple staring at me in astonishment.

“Fancy seeing you two out here. Couldn’t sleep?”

“I, umm…” Yukiko had a hard time answering that question.

On the other hand, Yu seemed more vocabularily equipped, “I could say the same for you. You finally got it fixed, huh?”

I grinned, “You bet. I’ve been doin’ test runs with this thing, and it’s gotta be the best car I’ve ever ridden in, much less _driven_.”

“So _that’s_ where you were…” Yukiko figured out, “We’ve been wondering for all this time…”

“I’m sorry to keep you on hold…” I said hesitantly, “By the way, need a lift?”

“Sure,” Yu agreed, “Just don’t go as fast as you were.”

“Gotcha.”

Somewhat awkwardly, the pair climbed into the backseat, and I accelerated once more, this time more slowly.

“How was fixing your car?” Yukiko asked to alleviate the intense silence.

“Hard, but very rewarding,” I told her, “Replaced the transmission and added a turbocharger. Before this, I had no idea how a car worked, but 4 days later, and I think I got the hang of it…”

“You learned all that in 4 days?” Yu asked.

“Oh yeah,” I said, “FIrst day was just testing everything, not really getting anything done. Second day was installing the transmission, the third day was testing it, and the fourth day was installing the turbocharger.”

I chuckled, “Nearly fell asleep from staying up so long, but thankfully soda and caffeine kept me up.”

“Can soda keep you awake?” Yukiko questioned.

“I dunno,” I admitted, “But it worked, so that’s what counts. Rise had to call _me_ to get me to take a break, since I haven’t been at the tofu shop for so long…”

“Geez…” Yu sounded concerned.

“I mean, it’s not _all_ bad. My body’s been in jitters since the beginning of the third day, and I could barely even sleep due to the pressure of getting my car up and running. I’ve also needed makeup to cover the bags under my eyes, but it’s not all bad…”

“Takari…” Yukiko had a serious look on her face, “Be honest with me. When was the last time you’ve gotten any sleep?”

I thought about it, “I dunno, I haven’t really kept track…”

“Takari, I’m serious!”

I sighed, “I dunno, ever since I started working on it, I’ve gotten maybe 7ish hours…?”

“Per night?”

“No, in total.”

“Takari, how are you driving!?”

I chuckled loudly, “I dunno, and I don’t really care…”

“Well I do! Now go to sleep as soon as you get home. And don’t wake up for school.”

I sighed, and turned to Yu, “Is she usually this overprotective…?”

“Eyes on the road!”

Yu sighed, “Most of the time…”

“Yu!”

I chuckled, “That explains it. Now hush, we’re almost there.”

I drove the rest of the way to Yu’s house, and then to Yukiko’s house. After I dropped them off, I immediately went back home, parked the finished car in the garage, walked upstairs, threw off my shirt and pants, and slept.

And slept.

And slept.

And slept… 

10/05:

I woke up to a faint light coming from my closed blinds. I eventually realized it was the sun, and figured it was daytime. I squinted at my watch, extremely sleepy-eyed.

It read 9:43.

I put my wrist down, and buried my face in my pillow. I hadn’t gotten a wink in about two days, I felt it was only fair I got as much sleep as possible.

I kept on sleeping up until around 1, where I finally got up, and stretched out. The only reason I even got up in the first place was because I remembered that I promised Rise I’d spend the entire day with her today, so I needed to get ready for that. 

…

“So, lemme get this straight,” Rise started, “Your car broke down randomly in the middle of the road, and rather than consulting a mechanic, you spent 4 days straight trying to fix and modify it with little to no sleep.”

“Sounds about right,” I admitted while driving, “Only thing is, I _did_ consult a mechanic, but I wanted to try to fix it myself before I paid for the installation price.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” I asked, “The same reason Yosuke gets Chie steak skewers from Junes rather than from the diner next to Aiya’s. Cuz it’s cheaper.”

She shrugged, “That makes sense. But, you still took way too long trying to fix it, you had me worried.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Worried? Why would you be worried if I was only gone for four days?”

She blushed, “Well… I got paranoid, okay? I thought that you had left me, and I didn’t know why…”

“Left you? No, Rise. I would never leave you without saying goodbye…”

She still seemed troubled, so I tried to emphasize my point.

“Look, I may not be a saint or anything, but I’m not one of those guys who just leaves someone they love with no explanation…”

“That… makes me feel a little better… so where are you taking me exactly?”

“Well I wanted to properly demonstrate how fast this is now, and after that… Okina maybe?”

“Sure,” she agreed.

I grinned. Just as I was turning onto the long, empty road leading to Okina, I shifted into the next gear, and gunned it.

“Jesus, slow down!”

I didn’t listen to her. I watched the speedometer go up, the car’s power and thrust gradually increasing until I slowed back down again as I finally gave in to Rise’s demands.

“Jesus…” Rise admitted, “I dunno how fast this thing was before you got it fixed, but that was the fastest I’ve ever gone in a car…”

I chuckled, “It was worth it after all. Oh look, we’re almost there,”

We stopped at Okina City, and I climbed out of the car.

“I was thinking of hitting the coffee shop, cuz I hear they serve some strong-ass coffee there,” I told Rise.

“Sure, sounds fun!” she said excitedly.

…

Turns out the coffee was a little more than strong. Rise had actually lost consciousness in the middle of her drink, causing it to spill all over everywhere.

We both apologised profusely; Rise to me for conking out in the middle of our date, and me to the owner of the coffee shop, who thankfully was very understanding, so I assumed this must have happened in the past.

After that event, Rise dragged me to the shopping center, where she got all these different types of items. However, I told Rise that I really didn’t enjoy shopping that much (can you blame me?), so she told me that she’d take herself shopping from then on.

After that, we caught sight of a movie that was being shown on display, so we decided to get tickets for it.

…

The movie was terrible, but we still had a fun time.

Once we left the theatre, we noticed that it was getting darker out, so we headed back to my car, and began the drive home. Along the way, I received a phone call, however the caller was someone I had not had call me in… for four years.

“Oi, kid. I’m not gonna be home tonight, so go buy your own groceries.”

I sighed, “One. I have been doing that for the past year. Two. Since when have you called me to let me know this?”

“It’s not my decision,” he sounded tired, “Liz wanted me to tell you, and wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Since when does this woman have a name?”

He sighed, “Just… don’t make this harder than it has to be, alright?”

He hung up.

I was about to sigh in disappointment, but this actually gave me a plan.

I glanced at Rise, who was in the passenger seat.

“Say… your grandma wouldn’t happen to mind you not coming home tonight, would she?”

“Hm? No, why?” she asked, bewildered.

“Oh, I was just wondering,” I told her honestly, “After all, I’ve slept over at your house once before, wouldn’t it be fair for you to sleep over at mine?”

“Hmm…” Rise thought for a minute, “I suppose she wouldn’t mind. When do you plan on returning to work though?”

“Same day I go back to school: tomorrow.”

“Oh, well then… I suppose one night couldn’t hurt.”

“Good,” I leaned back in my seat, “Call her and tell her this.”

“Wait… what exactly are we going to do there…?” Rise asked.

I shrugged, “I dunno… watch better movies, eat too much food, stay up too late, make out at midnight, whatever you want.”

Rise, who seemed flustered at that last proposition, graciously agreed, “Sure!”

…

“This… this is…”

“What?”

“This is… my first time being in a boy’s room,”

We were sitting on the bed in my room, Rise beet red, and me on the verge of laughter.

 _“That’s_ what you’re so flustered about?” I asked, astonished.

“W-Well, you wouldn’t know how it feels, cuz you’re older…” God I forgot how cute she was sometimes.

“By the way,” she continued, “Where’s your father?”

“Oh, him? He’s… out for the night. It’s what he called me about, and it’s why I invited you over…”

“Does that mean it’s…”

“Yep,” I admitted, “Just you and me,”

**15 minutes later…**

“This is actually really good tofu,” I admitted.

“Thanks,” Rise said, “I love making tofu. It’s really easy to make, and it’s a lot better than instant ramen.”

“I can confirm that,” I agreed.

“I could honestly eat tofu for every meal. Or just eat it all the time without stopping,”

“And get fat,” I finished.

“No, why would I get fat, I’m an idol,”

“Tofu makes you fat…”

“Tomu maksh mou mat?” she said in between bites.

I chuckled, “Geez, eat with your mouth closed, cutie.”

She gulped the food down, “Point still stands; tofu is amazing.”

“You’re not wrong there…”

**30 minutes later…**

“How long is this movie?” I asked, a little bored.

“About an hour and a half. Maybe closer to two hours…” Rise said hesitantly, “Why, do you not like it?”

“I mean, it’s alright, but it’s kinda slow…”

“Yeah…” she admitted, “It gets slow in the beginning, but picks up about halfway through.”

She stood up, “Wanna take a break?”

I shrugged, “Sure. What do you wanna do?”

“I dunno. I was thinking of-”

She stopped for some reason, “Hey, Takari, what’s this?”

“What’s wh- AH SHIT,”

Apparently, she found out the stash under my bed. She pulled out the boxes and discovered a collection she had never before seen. She was aware that some boys were into this type of stuff, but… never to this extent.

“Takari… this is… wow…”

I sighed, “Please, _please_ don’t bring this up…”

“Takari-san…” she looked to me with gleeful joy, “I didn’t know you were a fan of manga!”

“I’m not a fan! I-I just like that one… piece of media, that's all…”

“Is this because you fixed your car, or…”

“No! I’ve loved Initial D since I was a kid!”

She looked back at the manga, “But still, my god. There are so many here. Do you have every issue…?”

I turned red, “M-Maybe every single one… including the collector’s editions… and the ones that were cut from shelves…”

Rise giggled, “You teased _me_ for being flustered, yet you’re even cuter when flustered yourself…”

“It’s a secret passion, alright!?” I protested, “That manga I got from the bookstore on the school trip was the last copy of Initial D I needed. It was a cut copy which barely ever made it onto shelves…”

“You must be a die-hard fan of it or something…”

“P-Please don’t tell anyone about this…”

**45 minutes later…**

Our hands snaked around each other’s bodies as we expressed our deep love towards each other. My body was pressing down on hers, she was holding onto my back to support herself up, and _oh my god I just noticed how small she is why is she so small?_

“You taste like tofu,” she pulled away for just one instant, before coming right back.

“Same for you,” I pulled away once more, “Like the taste?”

We stopped so Rise could get her full response out, “It’s great in my mouth, but even better in yours,”

I chuckled, “I’m honored…”

I rolled off of her, and we laid side by side next to each other, “You’re a pretty good kisser. You sure this hasn’t been your first time?”

She shrugged, and rested on her shoulder to turn to me, “I never said it wasn’t. But, you’re right; I’ve kissed a lotta boys before, so I have some experience…”

“Glad to know I didn’t accidentally steal your first time on Monday…”

“Eh… by the way, can you keep a secret…?”

I turned towards her, “Sure, if you’re comfortable with telling,”

“Most idols these days take any hot male dancer, and make out with them after practice is over…”

Well, I’m confident I wasn’t expecting _that,_ “So… not your first time…”

“By a long shot, but… you _are_ my first full-time boyfriend, so…”

I laughed, “At least I got THAT going for me!”

“B-By the way… I kind of like this…”

I raised my eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“With you I don’t get a sense of a miracle, or anything like ‘this is too good to be true’, like I might with Sen- Narukami. With you, I just feel… comfort.”

“Comfort?” I questioned.

“Kind of… it’s not like overblown or anything, just… an overwhelming sense of comfort…”

I thought about that for a minute, “Well, I’m glad I come across like that. You wanna stay like this?”

“Sure…”

I spent a long time with Rise…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that romance is one main reason people read fanfiction, but I recently figured out that romance might not be my strong suit in terms of writing. But, I already wrote it, so whatever.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEFORE YOU READ:  
> This chapter is what I like to call: a deleted scene. it was part of last chapter, but it got left out because of 2 reasons:  
> 1\. It couldn't fit  
> 2\. It was too boring  
> Most of this chapter is just some funny dialogue that I wrote because I was bored. it's really just Takari's father's mini-arc, so nothing crazy. This chapter in no way advances upon the main plot, so you really don't have to even read it (tbh, It's not even worth reading). But eh. I wrote it.  
> TL;DR at bottom

10/11:

Once again, I come home to find my father collapsed on the couch, him and this “Liz” arm in arm.

“Oi, can you make me some coffee?” Liz asked him.

“I used the last of the milk this morning,” I spoke up.

The two whirled around to look at me, having not even heard me come in.

“Seriously?” My dad asked, “I thought I told you to buy more,”

“You thought wrong,” I told him.

He sighed, and stood up, “Fine… I’ll run out to pick up some milk, see ya in about 3 years, Takari.”

He left.

(Yes, I literally created all that dialogue specifically for that one joke, I don’t care)

“He’s just kidding,” his girlfriend reminded me.

She then walked over to the recliner, and sat down, “So, what kind of shows do you like?”

I groaned, “Look, Liz… I think I need to tell you something,”

I sat down on the couch, and she turned her body to face me.

“What is it?”

I cleared my throat, “Look, don’t take this the wrong way… but you need to get the hell out.”

Surprisingly, she _laughed,_ “No, no. I understand. You want me gone cuz I’m taking up too much of your dad, right?”

“I-In a way… but-”

“Well, personally, I don’t see the problem,” she said, “You barely stop by from what I hear from him, apart from that one time… why would it affect you?”

“Ok, first of all, you’re eating _my_ food. I bought that milk expecting it to last a week, but since you loooove those caramel macchiatos, they lasted two days, and now my dad’s gotta go out and buy some.”

“Fair enough…

 _“Second of all,_ the last time a random woman ended up strolling into this house, they ended up getting married. And bad things happened.”

Once again, she laughed, “Like I’d get married to him! I just use him for affection, and food. You’d be surprised how many relationships are like that…”

“No, I really wouldn’t… but that’s not the point!”

I attempted to be more thorough, “The previous woman he was with, I had to live with, and consider my step-mom. Not to mention, she also dumped a 4-year-old in my care, so now I had a step- _sister_ ,”

I pointed to the second cabinet in the living room, “See that? That cabinet was dedicated entirely to her. Do you wanna know what happened between them?”

She gave no response, so I continued, “Both of them ended up gone. Left my father in shambles to see his wife go. Now, I’ve dealt with trauma like that, and believe me, that guy’s no match for if anything like that’s gonna happen again. It doesn’t matter if you marry him, or continue… whatever you classify your relationship. If he loses anything else, I doubt he’d make it,”

She wasn’t in shock or anything, which was relieving. Instead, she was thinking. The correct words eventually found their way to her lips.

“Sounds like your father's been through a lot, huh?”

I scoffed, “I’ve been through worse, but… adults are actually a lot more sensitive than kids like me. He doesn't take care of himself, he doesn’t have that long left to live. I don’t want anything else to happen to him anymore,”

She understood. Somehow, she knew I wasn’t lying, which saved me a lot of time.

“So you’re all he’s got, huh? He’ll still be devastated if I leave too soon, especially if he thinks his own son robbed him of a date.”

“He’ll get sad, and mad, but he’ll live,” I responded.

“That’s what we all do,” she turned back to the TV, “Gimme a bit of time, I’ll look into him for a bit. Then I’ll see if he’s worth keeping or not…”

 _I’ve done all I can do…_ I thought, _Best to just leave it to them…_

…

10/12:

Rise was skipping down the lane that led up to my house. She just wanted to stop by to say ‘hello’, but she wouldn’t mind if it turned into something more… interesting to say the least.

As she rounded the corner to my house, she found that the door was slightly open, and was letting in a sliver of volume. 

It sounded like Takari was yelling at something, but who could it be?

Very carefully, she edged the door open, and what she heard was astounding…

“I-It’s not inappropriate!” an older voice she didn’t recognise was protesting, “It’s-”

“It’s another one of your disasters!” Now she recognized the voice; Takari.

“First, you invite a random girl over at 2 A.M,” he continued, “Then you start some kind of high-school romance with her!? Are you nuts!?”

“She’s-”

“She’s a twenty-year-old _stripper_ for all I know,”

“AARGH, she’s twenty-four! A-And she thinks… that I’m mature,”

“Yeah, well guess what!? Any young-ass, attractive girlfriend would automatically tell their boyfriend that ‘ooh, you’re so manly and mature,’ gimme a fuckin’ break!”

“Enough!” Rise yelled.

I whirled around, “Where did you…”

“Who’s this?” My father asked.

I stepped in between her and my father, “My girlfriend,”

He raised an eyebrow, “Since when do your girlfriends come over?”

“SINCE WHEN DO **YOUR** GIRLFRIENDS COME OVER!?”

“Takari, enough!”

I looked at Rise awkwardly as she continued, “Look, I don’t know what’s going on here, but clearly, it’s no excuse to get so angry over!”

My dad sighed, “Your boyfriend here was yelling at me because I had a relationship of my own,”

“And I was yelling at you because there’s an over thirty-year age gap.”

“What’s so wrong about that, huh?”

 _And, they’re back at it again…_ Rise thought, “I… I think I’ll just come back later…”

Before I could protest, Rise had already left the house.

I huffed, “Great job. You scared her off…”

He waved his arms in defeat, “Well, what do you want me to do?”

“I want you to talk to her about this,” I responded.

“Man, I…” he gave up, “Ugh, fine. I’ll try,”

“Good,”

He relaxed for a minute, and then opened his mouth to ask a question, “So, you and her, huh?”

“What about it?” I asked, grabbing a soda.

“Seems like she’s all over you.”

His expression then gave off a dirty aura, “Speaking of which, is this your first girl in like a year, or have you fucked that idol at the tofu shop?”

I choked on my soda.

As I was coughing violently, I just managed to wheeze out a response, “ **YES.** *cough* That _was_ the idol at the- wait, quit changing the subject!”

He guffawed loudly.

“Anyways,” I continued, “You gotta work it out with that girl. I don’t want a repeat of the past to happen, so… I don’t know, you figure it out!”

I walked on upstairs to leave him with his problems.

…

T: **Sorry 4 earlier, life at homes been rough lately**

R: **itz ok!!! i undrstnd**

T: **Working it out w/ dad. Prolly gonna have to come to urs either tmrw or day aftr**

R: **K! Cm ovr anytiem!!**

…

10/13:

Once I got back home from work, I pressed my ear to the door frame in an attempt to hear any commotion possibly happening.

Sure enough, I heard my dad and his girlfriend speaking in hushed tones.

I walked directly back from where I came from, and turned towards my car.

 _Maybe I was wrong about him,_ I wondered, _If he at leasts holds through with his responsibilities, maybe he’s not as bad of a person as I set him out to be…_

It also could have just been that I did a better job of convincing his girlfriend, but it doesn’t matter. At least I got to spend one more night with Rise… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TL;DR: Takari kicks out his father's girlfriend, revealed that his step-mother had a child, but they were both taken. Takari yells at dad infront of Rise, Takari's dad and girlfriend brake up.  
> Like I said, not worth reading. Just funny dialogue


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update again cuz idc

10/24:

“Ok, we currently have no suggestions at the moment, so does anyone have any ideas?”

I was sitting at my desk, half-listening and half-daydreaming about cars, mildly paying attention to the topic at hand. Apparently it was about the Culture Festival coming up, which I wasn’t too excited about, considering it wasn’t that eventful in previous years.

Most of the kids there were also quite bored, since they didn’t seem to be listening.

“Ugh, come on, guys,” one person in particular stated, “At least suggest something…”

The person who just spoke was Ito Takahashi, or as everyone referred to him, Saki’s old boyfriend. Fortunately, they broke up before her death, but he was still devastated along with her younger brother, Naoki.

“What do you expect?” one girl pointed out, “There aren’t really that many options…”

“Then, why don’t we try and make some options?” a cheerful girl said.

This girl, while cheerful, had an unfortunate tendency to ramble about “fate”. Her name was Mifune Chihaya. While I didn’t necessarily find her too annoying, the same could not be said for others.

“How about a fortune-telling stand?” she proposed.

“No, that one’s already taken by one of the first year classes…” another boy complained.

“What?” Mifune complained, “They stole my idea!”

“H-How about a photography stand?” Ito suggested, “We could set up a red room, and take pictures!”

“What are we even gonna take pictures of?” I asked, “How about a nightclub?”

“What’s a nightclub?” Mifune asked.

I stared at her blankly, “Seriously?”

When I realized she was being serious, I explained, “It’s like a hang-out place for adults, where you get served drinks, and they play music… there’s one down the shopping district?”

She shook her head.

“What even do you  _ do _ at this night club?” Ito asked genuinely.

“I dunno… play poker, pool, darts… now that I think about it, any game’ll do,”

“How many people in this room do you think know how to play poker?” A girl asked.

“How many people do you think  _ could _ learn how to play poker?” I asked in return.

“Okay, okay,” the student in charge of the decisions stated, “We have three suggestions now, so let’s vote on those topics,”

I cast my own vote for my own suggestion, while everyone else casted their votes for their preferences. Once all of the answers were rounded up, the ultimate decision eventually went to…

“Nightclub it is, I presume,”

I would’ve done a spit take if I were drinking, “Why!? Why would you vote for mine?”

“It was the best one out of them all,” a girl stated.

“I didn’t know what a nightclub was,” Mifune said, “So I picked that one. It sounds fun!”

“I chose yours at random,” a gruff kid grunted.

“You do realize that now we have to physically  _ run _ it, correct?” I pointed out.

“How hard can it be?” Ito questioned confidently.

I sighed,  _ This’ll end well… _

…

“You freakin’ jerk!” Chie screamed at Yosuke, “This was you, wasn’t it?”

“Wh-What was me?” Yosuke stammered, trying hard to act surprised.

“Signing our names up for the beauty pageant!” Chie yelled, “You do realize that we can’t back out, not with Ms. Kashiwagi running it!”

“O-Oh shit,” Yosuke whispered under his breath.

“So it WAS you!” Chie deduced.

As those two yelled on and on, Rise looked at Yosuke with… something in her eyes, “You really wanna see us like that, Yosuke?”

“I-I mean, why not, right?” Yosuke chuckled, “You’re an idol, and we’ve got a detective here as well,”

He looked to the rest of the guys, “And everyone here knows about the infamous Amagi challenge, and Chie here…”

“Yeah, why  _ did  _ you put me in the list?” Chie asked, her tone icy.

Yosuke then thought about that for a moment, and then thought about that for yet another moment, and then whispered under his breath, “Wait why  _ did _ I put her in?”

“YOU LITTLE RAT!” Despite Yosuke having his back to the roof gate, Chie somehow managed to still kick Yosuke with enough force to send him flying.

“Well, I guess there’s nothing we can do about it now…” Rise assumed, “Let's give it our all!”

“Careful what you wish for…” Kanji warned.

“I don’t wanna hear it from you, Moronji,” she teased, “Be honest, you wanna see Naoto all prettied up more than anything, right?”

“N-No, that’s-“

“Ooh, so you really  _ don’t _ wanna see her-“

“NO!” Kanji yelled, “That’s not what I said!”

“You ok, Kanji?” I asked.

“My concern is also present,” Naoto formerly stated, “Do you want to see me or not?”

“I-I do, I swear! I… just enter it, alright?”

“This is gonna be a long week,” I complained, “I can feel it already…”

…

10/25:

For fuck’s sake…

“What is the meaning of this!?” Yosuke screamed.

Chie merely shrugged, “I dunno, revenge, maybe?”

“You little-  _ you signed us up without asking?” _

“Technically, Yosuke-senpai, you’ve got nothin’ on her,” Kanji pointed out, “You did the same to the rest of the girls too, remember?”

“T-This is different!”

“Not really,” Yu told him.

“I mean, I was only gonna sign Yosuke up, but Yukiko mentioned that since we’re all doing it, it ought to be fun,” Chie mentioned.

“Sounds like a plan,” Yu stated confidently.

“WH-? You’re okay with this?” Yosuke stammered.

“Yea dude…” Kanji said wearily, “You sure got a lotta confidence in this…”

“Are you feeling nervous, Kanji?” Rise asked, “I could help if you want…”

Kanji’s eyes widened, “W-Will you… make me pretty?”

She grinned, “Prettiest boy in the school.”

He smiled, “Please. I wanna be pretty!”

I sighed, “I have never heard a boy  _ ever _ say that he wants to be pretty…”

I shrugged, “First time for everything,”

“By the way, Takari-san,” Yukiko mentioned, “How do you feel about all this?”

“I don’t care enough to take this seriously…”

“You guys are seriously down for all this?” Yosuke mentioned in bewilderment.

We all shrugged. Yosuke eventually gave up, and gave in.

So now the entire group was doing this pageant… yep, I was right; this is gonna be one hell of a long week…

…

10/26:

Great. 

Since I was the one to suggest the idea in the first place, now I had to be in charge of managing both the construction and functionality of the nightclub. For the construction, I knew we theoretically could get a bunch of black construction paper to put up over the walls, and maybe some of those neon purple LED lights teenagers like to put up in their rooms. But, that was about it for the decorations, which more or less sucked. I asked others for their ideas, and they said my idea was good enough, so I guess we’re going with that. A student had a darts set at home that they never used, so we could nail one up on a wall. Ito also had a spare deck of cards for poker, so that problem was sorted out. As for a full-on pool table… it wasn’t a matter of if anyone  _ had _ one, because even if they did, it was more of a matter of bringing it all the way over  _ here… _

I eventually settled on heading into the office room in order to ask Kashiwagi if a pool table was within our budget for decorations. Once I walked in, I saw Kashiwagi speaking in hushed tones to another student. He had a very large afro, which was unusual, as afros were not a common style in Japan.

However, once Kashiwagi spotted me, she cupped her hand to her mouth, and whispered something to him, all the while pointing at me.

The afro student nodded, and exited through the other door. Kashiwagi on the other hand grabbed me by the arm.

“Perfect timing. I was just waiting for someone like you…”

“The hell are you doin’?” I asked.

“Now, now… let’s wait until we’re there…”

She led me throughout the school, and into the auditorium, and eventually behind stage, where she found a private room, shoved us in, and locked the door.

“Ms. Kashiwagi, what-“

I didn’t even get a chance to speak before she-

Wait a minute. I know what you’re thinking. You think you know exactly what she did to interrupt me from finishing that sentence, don’t you? Surprise, surprise, that’s not what happened...

“Takari-kun. I have a very important task for you for this year’s beauty pageant. It’s something that only you will be able to-“

“Hold on a second,” I protested, irritated, “I didn’t come here about the beauty pageant. I was gonna ask if we could get a pool table for the Culture Festival…”

“Hmm…” Kashiwagi thought about that for a minute, “Well, a pool table  _ is  _ a little expensive, but if you’re willing to do a little something for me, I just might consider it…”

I sighed, “Fine. What is it?”

She smirked, “For this year’s beauty pageant, we have a LOT of guests this year. I’ve seen you hang out with a lot of our contestants, so, I was wondering if _you_ would be more suited to present them to the stage rather than our current host…”

Lights were beginning to turn on, “What are you suggesting…?”

“Utilizing my role as the official creator of the first ever cross-dressing Yasogami High Beauty Pageant, I humbly offer you the role of being the MC for both the male contestants, and the female contestants!”

My jaw dropped, “You want ME to host…?”

She took a breath, “What do you say?”

“...no,”

“What!? Why!?” she questioned loudly.

“Why? Well I’d bloody suck at it, that’s why,”

“Oh, come on,” she teased, “You’ve been getting popular lately. Fighting in the middle of the hall, getting a girl, this’ll be just an add-on. Besides, the alternative is to be stuck with cross-dressing, so you don’t really have much of a choice,”

_ She’s got me there… _ I thought in dismay.

“Alright, fine,” I told her, “But I still want my pool table,”

“Sure thing,” she said, “I’ll arrange it,”

“Okay, well since that was the main reason why I came here, I’ll be going now…”

“See you tomorrow to work on preparations…” Ms. Kashiwagi teased.

I groaned, “Oh yeah… now it’s definitely gonna be a long week…”

…

10/27:

Needless to say, preparations were going smoothly. The teachers had cut classes so we had enough time to prepare for the decorations, so the entire day mostly just blew by. Overnight, Kashiwagi had somehow managed to sneak a pool table in here, and since none of the teachers were nearly as invested in this project as she was, none of them paid any mind to it. Ito had managed to bring his deck of cards in here, but I put them in the cabinet of the pool table for two reasons:

One: we might lose the deck since it was going around the room.

Two: Kids figured out how to throw the cards. Far.

As for the darts set, the other boy hadn’t managed to find it yet, but he said it’ll be in by either tomorrow or the next day. That wasn’t too promising, considering the festival was in two days, but I had faith in him.

Chihaya brought a fortune telling orb.

…

10/28:

As for me, for the rest of today, I was stuck in Kashiwagi’s office preparing to be MC. She was having me put on all these expensive suits (“Style is key!”), and making me practice my lines. I had an exceptional talent of ad-libbing a lot of lines, so each time we were on set, Kashiwagi got a little variety.

Unfortunately, that was where the ups ran out.

It was unbearably boring in there, and Kashiwagi just would not give me a break. It grew to the point where Kashiwagi was both setting up decorations in the auditorium and training me at the same time. However, I’d already agreed to it, so I didn’t bother refusing her.

I just sighed in defeat, and waited for the day to end.

10/29:

Festival day had finally come upon us. Fortunately, Kashiwagi had given me a break today, since I was supposed to run the nightclub, and the pageant wasn’t until tomorrow. The other kid had found his darts set, so that meant that the darts game was a go. However, my solution for the card incident had backfired; another kid simply brought in yet  _ another _ deck of cards so that they could throw them. I had another problem on my hands; now I have to teach a bunch of high-schoolers how to play poker because that was the only game that allowed more than 5 people (in fact poker actually promotes more people). However, the problem with poker is that it requires real money and chips to bet. I decided last night that I’d ditch the money aspect, and just bring chips from home.

At first, there were only three of us playing; Chihaya was the dealer, and Ito and I were playing casually. However, we soon attracted many more people, so the loneliness aspect of it vanished.

But, I don’t know if most have ever played poker, because unless you play an online poker game with AI that go all in every few turns, poker games are LONG. While many people might have their playstyles, all will always play extremely carefully when faced with a low mount of chips. They will almost always fold unless they have very god cards, and absolutely never bet, always checking and calling whenever they aren't folded.

I took a break from poker, and walked over to the darts set before realizing that no one was playing darts…

Fortunately, I got in a pool game with Ito, and although I didn’t win, it was still pretty nice.

Eventually, I got tired of sitting in the one room, and ventured out into the other rooms.

One of them was a cat cafe, which I appreciated greatly. I didn’t bother asking how they even managed to allow cats in here, much less a full-on  _ cafe. _

As I moved on, I came across a lot of boring ones, such as a video room. It was basically a bunch of computers crammed next to each other with them running some kind of game site.

I didn’t bother sticking around. However, one particular section caught me off-guard. It wasn’t about how good it was, it was about how bad it was, and with so few people.

The decorations were horrible, and the turnout was more or less deserted. I decided that I’d walk in just for a minute to see what it was all about, and-

‘Great!” Yosuke cheered, “Perfect timing as well!”

I then took that moment to realize that the sign outside read: “Group Date Café”

I then took the next moment to realize that I did not want to be here.

“How’re we gonna make this work…?” Kanji asked after Yosuke explained the rules to me, “We’ve got more guys than chicks...”

“Well,” Yosuke said, “Guess someone’ll have to look pretty and sit on the girls’ side,”

Everyone instantly looked at Yu. Or at least, where we all thought Yu was. He was no longer standing next to Yosuke, he was now sitting in the girls seat, just as all of us predicted.

“Problem solved,” I muttered, “Now how does this work again…?”

“I’m not quite sure myself,” Yukiko said, “I think we ask each other questions, and…”

“Let’s start from there, I guess…” Yosuke said proudly.

No one said anything.

Yosuke cleared his throat, “I said, let’s start from there…?”

“What… what foods do you like to eat?” I murmured, unsure of if me going first was the right decision.

“Umm… I like-” Yukiko was interrupted.

“OOH! Me, me! I like steak!” Chie exasperated, hand raised in the air like I was a teacher.

“We know that, genius…” Yosuke sighed before being kicked in the shin by Chie from under the table.

“I like… curry… I think,” Yukiko stammered.

“Ok, ok. We’re getting somewhere,” Yosuke assessed, “What about you Bro-nñhilda?”

Bronhilda thought about it for a minute, and settled on, “I like everything,” in an extremely womanized voice.

“That’s not necessarily a meal!” he yelled.

“U-Uhm… it’s my turn now…” Yukiko stammered, “What… kind of food do you like?”

“He just asked that, genius,” Yosuke growled.

“O-Oh really? My bad…” Yukiko was now officially a stuttering mess.

“How about I ask for you, Yukiko?” Chie suggested, “What are your hobbies?”

“Hmm…” Yosuke wondered, “I guess I like to read magazines, but let me tell you, I am most certainly into-”

I yawned too loudly, “Kanji, you’re next.”

As Yosuke was protesting, Kanji was struggling to figure out a response, “W-Well, let’s see… I used to beat up biker gangs, but now I like to… sew and shit.”

“Sewing?” Yukiko asked, “That sounds lovely,”

“R-Really?”

I cleared my throat, “As for me, I like to drive too much… and sometimes too fast,”

Yosuke sighed, “You could get pulled over for that, you know?”

“W-What do you normally look for when choosing a boyfriend…?” Kanji stammered.

“H-Huh?” Chie asked, bewildered, “I dunno, someone who isn’t a total freakin’ perv like Yosuke, what kind of question is that?”

“T-This wasn’t my idea, I just went along with it, why’re you getting angry over my question?”

“It’s ok, Kanji,” Yukiko said calmly, “I look for someone who treats me nicely, takes me out on dates, and who actually knows how to treat a girl…”

“...wow…” Yosuke whispered.

“Guess that’s why you’ve never gotten a boyfriend in this school,” Chie guessed, “Everyone here barely knows how to talk to girls,”

“Chie!”

Bronhilda on the other hand, stated his response without blinking an eye, “I look for someone generally cute, who gets nervous easily…”

“Bro… I never knew you were into that stuff!” Yosuke admired, but he wasn’t done.

“Specifically, someone who is around my age, but someone who acts young enough to be loveable. Brown hair in particular might be suitable for appearance, followed by headphones to isolate themselves from the real world, and a cute blush, that you always wanna protect…”

“You mean like Yosuke’s blush?” Kanji asked.

Yosuke, after realizing he had just been hit on, didn’t quite know how to deal with this information.

“I-I gotta go get a drink!”

And Yosuke rushed out of the room, never to be seen again.

Meanwhile, Brohhil- Yu, who had previously had a stone face, was now beet red. His eyes were wide open, his neck was shaking violently, and his lips were pressed tightly against each other, but a small smile was forming on said lips.

“By the way…” I mentioned, “I just thought of a question…”

“What is it?” Chie asked.

I looked up, “What the hell are we doing?”

Just then, Rise burst through the door, “KANJI! THE CALICOES ARE HERE!”

Kanji instantly shot up, “The precious Calico Cats!? They’re here!?”

“Yes! Naoto’s playing with them right now!”

Kanji instantly dashed out of the room, with Rise hot on his heels, all the while screaming, “I’M COMING MY KITTENS!!!”

Yu then burst out laughing, like a balloon that had just been popped, except the air being blasted out was loud, and it wasn’t going away anytime soon.

And then, of all people, Ito had to walk in.

“Where were you, Takari? We need you!”

I stood up, “What!?”

“Chihaya gave someone a royal flush. We need a new dealer.”

I slammed my hand on the table, “Well son of a bitch, Takahashi. Alright, fine, I’m coming…”

…

When I got back, the room was littered with cards. Those damn kids had stapled two of them together, which made them even easier to throw. I nearly got hit with one myself, to be honest. Once I crawled my way back to the table, I realized that Chihaya had given the cards to this one kid because he apparently had “The World” arcana, which was supposed to be good or something…

Eventually, I took over as a dealer, and things went along smoothly. The first day of the Culture Festival was surely eventful, and I can only guess that it’ll begin to grow even more eventful with the second day...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are Yu laughing and Kanji screaming “I’M COMING MY KITTENS!!!” out of character?  
> Some might say  
> Do I care?  
> Absolutely not  
> Also yes, that's Chihaya from P5, I found that since she was 22 in 2016 that she might be a third year in 2011.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Fat people, multiple lethal doses of embarrassment, neglected salads, and at the center of it, one snazzy boi  
> (No, you're never getting any idea what the fuck that means)

10/29:

“So, Chie-senpai, who are _you_ most excited to see on stage?” Rise teased.

The four girls were standing directly under the stage, waiting for the host to show up in order for the show to start. They were doing the crossdressing segment first, and then the female segment that afternoon.

“I dunno…” Chie stamered.

‘Oh, come on,” Rise continued, “Everyone wants to see _someone!_ ”

Chie sighed, “I… guess it’d be funny to see Yosuke's embarrassed look on his face as a girl… the little punk deserves it…”

“Ooh, getting a little tense, aren’t ya? How about you, Yukiko-senpai?”

Yukiko blushed, “I… I’d like to see Narukami. I think he knows how to make himself pretty since… never mind,”

Rise giggled, “Wow, Yukiko. You have such good taste. What about Naoto-kun?”

Naoto put her hand to her chin, “I’m intrigued at how emotional Kanji got when faced with the suggestion of me being in the pageant… I feel it’s only fair to see how well he does…”

Rise puffed her chest, “Ha! You won’t be disappointed. I did a pretty good job of dressing him up, he might even _win!_ ”

“How about you, Rise-chan?” Chie asked, “Who are you looking forward to seeing?”

Rise thought for a second, “I’d like to see how Takari-senpai does… he always dresses in a tie, so it’s a wonder how his clothing preferences will show in the female department…”

“You mean THAT Takari-san?” Naoto pointed up stage.

Her finger leads to a quite well-dressed boy in a full-on suit and tie, with heavy makeup purifying his face, and hair gel tidying up his messy hair.

I cleared my throat, “Welcome to the “Miss” Yasogami Pageant!”

“HUH!?!?” Chie and Rise screamed

“What’s _he_ doing up there!?” Chie asked.

“I’m your host, Takari Aragaki, and this is the infamous cross-dressing pageant!”

“Did he say he was the ‘host’?” Rise questioned.

“Good for him,” Yukiko stated.

I put on a smile, and attempted to ignore their voices, “Now, let’s get down to business. Our first contestant is a strong, independent housewife who ‘don’t need no man.’ Originating from class 1-2, this brawny beauty is on the particularly strong side of makeup, but her strength more than makes up for her appearances.”

I stepped to the side, “Give it up fooooor…. Kanji Tatsumi!”

Rise lied.

Kanji looked… I don’t want to say “bad”, but he certainly didn’t look good. His hair was alright, and it was a little too obvious that he was a guy based on his torso, but it got the job done.

Unfortunately, Kanji didn’t quite have a clean face, and Rise didn’t _quite_ do a good enough job with makeup. To everyone’s dismay, she had also used lipstick on him, which, combined with his unclean, masculine face, didn’t quite add up to a pleasant sight.

“Sup?” his voice was not even trying to be feminine, and was just being over-masculine.

“Why, hello there my first beautiful contestant!” I acted, forcing myself to hold a smile, “Say, might you be a pretty one. Tell me, what do you believe is your _best_ feature of your attire?”

Kanji thought for a minute, “My eyes?”

I leaned towards his face to get a peek at his eyes, “And what beautiful eyes they are! Full of color and warmth, yet cold and intimidating when you want them to be!”

“Jeez,” one girl muttered, “This guy’s over the top…”

“Yeah, but his optimism takes away some of the shame,” another boy pointed out, “It’s almost as if he makes them look prettier just by standing next to them,”

“He sure knows how to dress though…” the first girl muttered.

“Okay, I think we’re ready to move on to our second contestant,” I interrupted.

As i was talking, from the corner of my eye, I saw Ms. Kashiwagi be approached by a blonde haired girl, who whispered something in her ear.

Ms. Kashiwagi nodded, and they both went off-stage.

“Our next contestant is just about opposite from our brawny beauty, in terms of age, physical performance, _and_ attitude!”

I pointed out to the boys in the audience, “Dear young, perverted boys of Yasogami. Do you wish for a small, shy, younger sister that’s just _begging_ to be tangled up in a sister-complex?”

The boys looked to each other with expressions that didn’t exist.

“Well, do I have good news for you! Clocking in at room 2-2, this timid cutie is shy, small, stuttering, and beet red! Introduciiiiiiing… Yosuke Hanamura!”

Ok, Chie did a slightly better job on Yosuke. She somehow managed to convince him to walk with a skirt on, and paired with the girl’s uniform in his color pallet, high socks, moderate lipstick, and a single pigtail, he didn’t look half bad.

“H-Hi…”

“Ooh, and such a cute, innocent voice to go along with it!” I admired, “You seem quite experienced at pulling off this ‘shy’ girl facade, you sure this is your first time in a skirt…?”

Somehow, Yosuke actually managed to blush on command, “N-No… of course not…”

And he still powered through, and kept his girl voice,

“Ooh, what a demonstration!” I then pointed to the guys who were crowded up near the front of the audience, “I can already see the guys just _itching_ to get a look up that skirt…”

Yosuke shoved his hands down between his legs, and covered the spot that revealed his tighty-whities.

“Alright, I’m having too much fun,” I admitted, “Onto our third contestant!”

I stepped back over to the side, and cleared the aisle.

“Our third contestant is a new face in the heart of Inaba, still new to things, yet unafraid to get some excitement in her life! With Knowledge to put a professor to shame, Courage to scare off a street thug, Diligence to keep going in the darkest of times, and Understanding to help those along the way of his journey, I give you… Yu Narukami!”

Yukiko did a quite fine job. He was dressed in a black girl’s uniform, with a skirt that dragged down to his kneecaps. He was holding an umbrella of some sorts, which he snapped on the ground and propped on his shoulder. However, the most notable addition was the hair, which was braided, and had an extension.

“WHOA! Looks like this one ain’t playin’ around!” I commented, “Have you signed yourself up for this?”

“Damn straight,” he said coolly.

“Ooh, such boldness! This contestant might actually be the one that takes the cake after all… ok, I think it’s onto voting!”

Suddenly, I heard the earpiece in my ear activate, “Not yet. We have another contestant,”

I put my hand to my ear, “What’s that I hear?”

The other kids looked at each other in confusion while Ms. Kashiwagi answered my question, “We have a surprise fourth contestant that just now signed up. Calling herself the “King of the TV World”, all we know about this one is their name; Teddie-chan.”

“Well, isn’t this surprising!” I announced, “It seems as if we have a surprise fourth contestant on our hands! Calling herself the “King of TV Worlds”, not much else is known about this one, so, without further ado, I present to you… Teddie-chan!”

Teddie then suddenly came skipping out from behind a corner, and _holy shit_ did he nail his costume. He had a full-on dress perfectly tailored to him, and since he was skinny, he resembled the small frame of a slightly underweight schoolgirl. He had a blue headband that went well with his outfit, and speaking of hair… the hair was amazing. It was almost as if he had been born with that hair.

And his shampoo. Just. Worked.

He then twirled around in a circle, pointed his finger at the audience, and pulled a feminine, extremely seductive voice, “Gimme your hearts!”

The crowd went wild. 

“WOAH, now _that_ is how you pull off a costume!” I admired, “I’m having a hard time realizing you’re not a girl myself. Now tell me, what is your main method at making the guys and girls fall for you?”

Teddie giggled, “Oh, I could never tell. The only way for you to know is to experience it first hand…”

“Amazing!” I took a step back, “Our dearest Teddie-chan here has the entire school questioning their sexuality! Now, before some people can’t resist themselves any longer, I believe it’s time for the votes…”

…

“And the winner is…”

The spotlights swung from contestant to contestant, the audience eager on knowing who won. 

Suddenly, the light flicked onto a certain contestant, and I announced who the winner was, “Teddie-chan!”

It wasn’t even close. Teddie won by a landslide. Meanwhile, Yu and Yosuke nearly tied, with Yu barely pulling through. Poor Kanji got last, much to his disappointment.

Teddie clasped his hands together, “Woohoo!”

“And, as a reward, we will allow you to not only become an honorary judge for our second half of the pageant, but also get to determine the category for the girls’ pageant!”

“The long-awaited day has finally come!” Teddie decreed, “I declare that the new criteria for this year’s pageant will be… a swimsuit competition!”

From the corner of my eye, I could see Kashiwagi gasp in shock at this revelation, and then turn her face into a sly grin.

As for the girls, they were losing their shit.

“W-What is the meaning of this!?” Chie yelled.

Naoto blushed, “This is preposterous!”

Chie slammed her hands on the stage, and hauled herself up so that her waist was at level with the floor, “This is against the rules! I demand a different one!”

“Too late!” I yelled, with a grin, “It’s already set in stone. Not my decision.”

Chie pouted, and shrunk back down to ground level.

“And, I do believe that concludes the first event of the beauty pageant,” I announced, “But fear not! The second half will be comin this afternoon, and it’s only going to get even _more_ spicier with the newest ruleset…”

Yosuke put his hand to his chin, “Maybe this pageant won’t be so bad after all…”

…

“You kids better dress up well… best to put on a good show,” Ms. Kashiwagi taunted.

“Ha!” Rise shot back, “Like you could compete with me!”

“Oh…?” Kashiwagi questioned, “Don’t get your hopes up. You’d be surprised how many students fantasize over their teachers… you think that yesterday’s idol would even scratch their minds?”

“What was that?”

“Think about it, all insecure, teenage boys are just _begging_ for a strong teacher that’ll teach them the lesson of their lives… What can you do? Swak into a microphone, and sing?”

“What about you? What’re you gonna do? Teach them _math_ as a seduction tactic?”

**“JESUS!”**

They both looked at the source of the sound, and found me pressed against the classroom door, breathing heavily.

“Do you mind?” Kashiwagi said irritably.

“There are seven hundred fucking people outside,” I panted.

 _“What!?”_ they said in sync. 

“They heard about Rise in a bikini, and now they’re rushing for the auditorium,”

Rise smirked, “See? Looks like I got the points in numbers, and since it’s majority rules, that's all that matters!”

Kashiwagi scoffed, “Just you wait, princess. Just you wait…”

…

“Hello, and welcome to the second part of the annual Culture Festival!” I began, “After things reached such a climactic conclusion last time, here’s hoping that the real deal of this year’s pageant will be even better!”

The crowd roared with excitement.

“Now, without further ado, lerts introduce our… _six_ contestants for this year!”

“Six?” Yosuke questioned from the back, “Geez, looks like we hit the jackpot…”

“Meh,” Kanji didn’t seem too thrilled, “That just means this’ll take longer. Besides, there’s really only one person I…”

Yosuke grinned, “Wonder who that could be…?”

He turned to Yu, “What about you, bro? Who’re you looking forward to seeing?”

He leaned in and whispered in Yu’s ear, “Is it Yukiko…?”

No, actually,” Yu responded with little emotion, “I’m actually looking forward to seeing Hanako up there to be honest…”

“WH-? Come on, that’s not funny!” Yosuke complained.

“Our first contestant is actually quite fit, and is capable of showing off some serious leg strength. This contestant is a ball of cheerfulness, but it can quickly into a ball of rage and, when paired up with her strength, can lead to some… devastating results.”

I stepped aside, “Here comes… Chie Satonaka!”

Chie awkwardly strutted out from behind the curtains, torn between hiding her partially-exposed breasts and shielding her eyes from the glare of the spotlight that was trained on her.

“H-Hi… I’m… Chie Satonaka…” Chie giggled shakily, “I-I like to watch kung-fu movies… and my favorite food is yogurt!”

“YA BIG LIAR, IT’S STEAK!” Yosuke yelled from the crowd.

“SHUT IT!” Chie yelled from across the stage, then immediately covered her mouth.

“WHO-HOAH, looks like the cat’s already outta the bag,” I commented as Chie turned red.

I cleared my throat, “Our next contestant is a formal, yet blissfully clueless beauty. She is known for her difficulty in getting a date with, and has a secret side in her that can instantly melt the strongest of guys’ self esteems. Get ready, cuz it’s… Yukiko Amagi!”

Yukiko walked out on stage, the spotlights shining like stars in her eyes. While her chest size wasn’t too attention-grabbing (as previously disclosed), her slim figure more than made up for it.

“U-Um… I’m Yukiko Amagi…” Yukiko stuttered, despite the audience knowing that, “M-My family runs the Amagi Inn. We can give out massages to guests, and our hot springs are alway open so…”

“Ooh, a little advertising, aren’t we?” I looked to one of the judges, “Are we sponsored by that Inn?”

One of the judges shook their head, so I continued on.

“Our third contestant is actually quite well known, and for good reason! Winning guys’ hearts from all over the country with her dazzling looks and incredible voice, this contestant is probably the reason half the audience is here! Introducing… Rise Kujikawa! Or better known as: Risette!”

 _Risette._ That was the first time I had ever said her name to my memory.

But when she started to skip out on stage, I could see the difference. She made a ‘peace’ sign with two fingers, winked, tilted her head, and announced, “Hey there! I’m Risette!”

When I say the crowd went wild, I don’t mean the crowd went wild. I mean the crowd went... **WILD**.

I moved to cover my ears, but Rise herself wasn’t even fazed by the noise. She skipped around the crowd, latched her arm around mine, and pressed her chest to my forearm.

“Don’t try anything stupid…” I warned under my breath.

“I do this with every MC,” Rise responded, just as silent.

I sighed, “Learn more and more about you…”

I stepped away, “AHEM! Please, settle down everyone, I get that it’s an idol and all, but we’re only halfway there!”

Slowly, the crowd died down, allowing me to continue to the next one.

“Our fourth contestant is a calm and controlled detective, but can be adorably clueless and shy underneath. With a blush that'll make the strongest of men fall head over heels, and the second contestant with the ability to question both genders’ sexual identities, it’s the detective prince…ess herself, Naoto Shirogane!”

The spotlight paned on Naoto, who was shoved into center stage. She was caught off guard from the sudden change in position, but once she saw what position she was in, she immediately turned a shade of red, and covered her chest.

Only one word can describe the audience’s reaction: pandemonium.

The crowd cheered so loud, even Rise had to cover her ears. Unfortunately for the girl in the spotlight, this only made her even more embarrassed, which I could tell because she was now shaking.

Eventually, she couldn’t take it anymore, and dashed off stage.

“AWWW, we’ve got our first drop-out!” I pouted, “It’s a shame too, because it would’ve been nice to-”

The noise was just. Too. Loud. I doubt even the already existing contestants on stage could hear me at this rate.

I had to wait an entire 30 seconds before I got onto the fifth contestant.

“Our fifth contestant is one whose outside looks can be unsettling at first, but upon closer inspection, you’ll find that she has a warm heart. Crushing you with her love, and her weight, it’s Hanako Ohtani!”

Hanako lumbered out onto the stage floor, the wood planks supporting her creaking with every step.

“So much for saving the best for last…” one girl in the audience muttered.

“Heh. Hi there!” she snorted.

“Why, hello!” I greeted cheerfully, “Now, may I ask a question: how exactly do you prevent guys from running off due to your looks, and how do you make them see the light of yourself?”

Hanako snickered, “Well, I usually don’t come to many guys myself, but one time this boy came into my tent to sleep with me.”

The crowd roared with confusion.

“I had to turn im down though… he just wasn’t my type,”

“Ooh, hard to get, eh?” I commented, “It’ll only encourage the chasers… and now onto our final contestant!”

I readied myself for my scripted speech that she gave me, “This one’s the oldest, and most mature one of the bunch. Students all around wish they could be with her, yet the dream will forever remain a dream. Introducing… Noriko Kashiwagi!”

Kashiwagi strutted on stage, with a seductive gleam in her eyes, ‘Well? You all gonna keep staring or what?”

A single person in the room coughed, which echoed loudly.

I didn’t know this at the time, but that person turned out to be Kanji.

I sighed, “Well, since there’s nothing interesting to talk about… ON TO VOTING!”

Teddie’s vote, courtesy of being the winner, counted as 5 points rather than one. They let everyone except for myself and the contestants vote, but I don’t think it’d be a mystery to figure out who I would’ve voted for.

“The results are in, and we have a winner!” I concluded, “The winner is… Naoto Shirogane!”

The five contestants’ eyes widened in surprise.

I looked around, “It seems as if she was unable to come back to receive the prize, so I guess we’re gonna have to give it to the runner up… I resent this award to… Hanako Ohtani!”

“Really?” the fatass questioned, “I won?”

I laughed, “HA! In your dreams. ‘Nice hustle tons-of-fun!’ Next time eat a salad, toots,”

Hanako cried, and ran off stage, while the entire audience guffawed at my performance.

"Er... I guess yogurt in Chie's case, but ANYWAYS! The actual runner up was a close one, but barely edging out past Kashiwagi, coming at second place is Rise Kujikawa!”

I slapped the award in her chest, and began walking off of stage.

"You all don't pay me enough for bullying fat people, I am OUT!"

"We don't pay you at all!" Kashiwagi yelled just before I exited earshot.

…

The aftermath of that incident was… interesting to say the least. Rise (who was still in her bikini) caught up with Naoto and tried to give her the prize. At first, Naoto didn’t believe her (“Come on, you must have heard them!” Rise protested), but eventually, she accepted the fact. However, she still wouldn’t take the prize.

Now, Rise didn’t exactly take no for an answer, and sometimes got a little too pushy. Combine that with me entering the room at the wrong time, and you have a half-naked girl two inches away from a red-faced girl attempting to shove an award into her chest.

Good times… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, we're all caught up. Two double updates in a row gave me very little time to write, so if there isn't an update this weekend, that's why


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "MiGhT nOT uPdAtE tHiS wEeKEnD"  
> So, I could've either taken my time writing this, not being too concerned if I run a little late on my schedule, and get some other stuff done that's more important.  
> Or... I could spend a perfectly good Thursday writing this entire chapter in ONE DAY.  
> Yeah... I went a little nuts on this one.

11/05:

I have heard many things in my life. Some of them have been pleasant, others have been tragic, a number have been rage-inducing. No matter what words people choose to utter, I have never truly let any produce such a strong reaction simply based off of words. My life has been shaped on actions, words merely describe the situation, while actions  _ are _ the situation.

However, I have never in my life had such a strong reaction from three other words than “Nanako is gone.”

…

Dojima raced down the streets of Inaba at over 90 kilometers an hour, pouring rain obstructing his view and pursuit of his target; a delivery truck driven by the man who had kidnapped the most important thing to him; Taro Namatame.

“Hang on, Nanako,” he breathed heavily, addressing no one in particular, “Daddy’s coming,”

As he raced down the streets of Inaba, he found it increasingly infuriating that somehow, a delivery truck managed to outpace a Land Rover.

But the sheer determination inside of him to save his daughter was blinding him with rage, and as he slid around a corner, his wheels holding onto the slippery tarmac by a thread, he found his foot encountered resistance when speeding back up.

He would later realize that this was the floor behind the gas pedal.

Suddenly, he heard something impossible. It was an engine, but… it was coming from  _ behind _ him.

And getting  _ louder. _

No time to dwell on it; the delivery truck made a sharp right turn at the last minute. Dojima slammed on the brakes to make the turn properly.

And he saw it.

Going at impossible speeds, at an impossible angle, he saw a car surpass him, not bothering to slow down even one bit for the corner. The car’s angle was sideways, and its momentum was changing drastically, seemingly unaffected by the rain.

Dojima couldn’t believe this, but… he just saw a car pull off a 90 degree turn without even braking. By magic, the mystery car evened out to accelerate even more, and catch up with Dojima’s target.

The car took an inside line, so Dojima had to break to avoid hitting it. However, he was more focused on slowing down, and not about where he would end up, so he ended up forgetting to steer in time, and slamming straight into the wall.

As Dojima re-applied his foot to the accelerator, he just watched as the car sped forward and approached the truck’s side, with no sign of stopping…

…

I drifted around Dojima’s Land Rover in one fell swoop, eliminating my main obstacle in catching up with the delivery truck. I risked a glance in my rear-view mirror, and saw the Land Rover completely stopped, attempting to speed back up again.

I instantly looked back at my target, which was now veering to the right slightly.

I knew what it was doing; it was swinging to the right to build enough momentum to snap back in the opposite direction, and make an extremely sharp left turn.

That meant that it would take the outside line on the approach, and leave the turn on the inside line.

Which meant I had to do the opposite, since I was behind it.

I readied my car on the inside line, and watched as the truck swung sharply to the left, narrowly missing the street lamp, and roamed away down the smaller road.

On the other hand, I approached the left side, and when the turn snuck up on me, braked, and steered as sharp as I could to the left, hoping to god that I didn’t understeer too hard.

Due to me braking, I entered the corner slower than the truck, but exited it faster, albeit on the opposite side of him.

Fortunately for me, he had oversteered, and counter-steered way too late, not quite crashing, but losing speed.

I took this opportunity to accelerate further, and drove up to the side of him. 

I was this close,  _ this close _ to the driver, yet I just needed a way to stop his car. I couldn’t afford to crash the vehicle, since Nanako was still in there. My car was faster than his, so he wasn’t outrunning me until the next turn, but even then he'd have to get lucky to do that. 

I risked looking away for a split second, and glanced at my glove compartment.

I then snapped my gaze back on the truck, and got an idea.

I opened the glove compartment on the other side, mindful to keep my car in a straight line, and picked it up.

_ Fully loaded. Perfect. _

I aimed it at a specific point on the truck, careful to hit the exact right spot. If I so much as missed by an inch, god knows where the-

The atmosphere once again was disrupted with the loud nose of the revolver I had just fired. The bullet ripped through the crack in the car’s chassis, and stopped smack in the middle of the area below the engine.

Due to my knowledge on cars, I knew where the right place to shoot was. The engine made loud noise, and light smoke came billowing from the hood.

But neither of these results satisfied me nearly as much as the truck no longer being capable of accelerating. I pulled the handbrake lever, and twisted my car to the right.

The truck stopped almost immediately after it realized what I had done, and I stopped a few meters ahead of it. The way I had braked left my car sideways, with the driver’s side facing the truck.

I shot out of the driver’s seat, and ran towards the truck.  I pulled open the door, rushed in, and raised my gun.

_ Oh no. _

Instead of seeing a terrified murderer and little girl, I saw a single TV laid down on the wall of the truck, with ripple effects coming from the center.

I stood there, mouth agape, gun still raised at a target that no longer existed.

I dropped the gun and sank to my knees. I felt like crying, but that wouldn’t change anything. Instead, I felt my head tingling slightly.

_ No… not again… _

…

**The girl cried for help, but no one could hear her...**

**He had the opportunity to stop it, but he was too late…**

**Too late...**

...

I shook out of my trance, wanting even more to cry now, but this time being physically unable to. I was so close, SO CLOSE, yet…

**Wait**

I looked at the still rippling TV.

And looked down at my hands.

And then at my gun.

And then back at the TV.

_ No! I can’t! _ I insisted,  _ I have no idea where I’ll end up… _

**Who cares? The killer is right here. Am I really gonna let him escape?**

_ What will happen to me? To Nanako? _

**Who cares about me? This happened to me in the past. Am I really gonna let history repeat itself?**

I stretched my hand out to the TV, trying hard to hold myself back, but being unable to. I closed my hand in a fist, and held back with all my might, slamming my hand onto the floor in defeat.

However, once again, I outstretched my hand, and no matter how hard I tried, I found myself sticking my hand through the TV, both physically and mentally unable to resist.

I may as well have been fighting against god itself to attempt to hold back against the irresistible desire to-

I couldn’t see.

I couldn’t hear.

I couldn’t think.

I could only feel.

But even then, everything I felt seemed as if it were eons away.

I attempted to regain some of my senses, but it was pointless. In a distant place, I felt pain on my head and back. In a distant place, I felt myself being launched into something. In a distant place, I felt blood trickling out of me.

It was hard to tell what was actually happening and what was the result of my entire mental state collapsing in on itself. Everything blended together in a mixture of unrecognizable feelings and sensations, only making it even harder to determine what was reality and what was illusion.

Suddenly, I regained a sliver of one of my senses. From a far away place, I could hear muffled voices. From a far away place, I could hear sirens. From a far away place, I could hear a closer, slightly less muffled voice.

I chose to focus on that sound, enhancing it, and viewed it as my figurative anchor to reality, for there was a certain part of me that knew it was real.

The voice got louder, and clearer, and louder, and clearer, until everything painfully snapped back into reality, and-

“Takari!”

I shot out from on the floor, gasping for air, someone’s head just narrowly missing mine.

I rolled over onto my forearms, and attempted, and failed, to regain my breath.

“What just happened?” I asked whoever it was, with some difficulty breathing.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and became aware of Rise’s presence.

“What just happened?” I repeated.

“Takari, it’s gonna be okay…”

“What just happened?” I repeated for a third time, still breathing heavily, and coughing every once in a while.

_ Is… is this real?  _ I silently questioned,  _ What… what is this? _

“Takari, listen to me,” Rise informed me, “You’re gonna be ok, just breathe,”

I did as she asked, my sense of what was going on hanging by a thread. 

She spoke once more, “What was the last thing you remember after the crash?”

I squinted at her, “Crash? What are you…”

“Dojima crashed into the truck.” Rise informed me, “He’s bleeding, and needs to be taken to the hospital. I think we might need an ambulance for two…”

For the first time since I regained my senses, I looked at my surroundings.

I felt a cold chill of relief find its way into my bloodstream.

I was still in the truck, vision tinted red. I had been shot backward, and smashed my head and upper-body against the dashboard, but nonetheless having still survived. The crash had prevented me from climbing into the TV, but the disorientation made me think I  _ did. _

I felt a head under my shoulder, and a hand latch onto my wrist, and Rise hoisted me on my feet, carrying me under the arm.

We climbed out of the car, and I came face to face with the rest of the group.

“Takari!” they all exclaimed in unison, much to my discomfort.

Naoto rushed over to me, and examined me, “He doesn’t look good, Rise-chan. His vision’s probably spotty, his ears are most likely ringing, and he’s extremely disoriented.”

"What... what's gonna happen to him?" Rise asked in distress.

"He'll be fine, but he desperately needs rest," Naoto informed her, "He might need to go to the hospital, but it isn't mandatory... I hope,"

By this time, my breathing was slowly returning back to normal, and I was regaining my senses.

I shrugged off Rise, and stumbled back into the truck.

“Takari-san!” Rise protested.

The group climbed in after me, and found me in front of a shattered TV resting in the back of the vehicle.

The color in everyone’s face drained faster than I ever thought possible when they laid eyes upon the broken TV, especially Yu’s.

I picked up my revolver, stuffed it in my pocket, and grabbed a notepad I had spotted on the dashboard.

"Is that... the killer's?" Yosuke asked to no one in particular.

I opened it to a specific page, and relayed it’s contents.

“Yamano, Mayumi.”

Chie gasped silently.

“Konishi, Saki.”

Yosuke turned a slight shade of green, but I kept going.

“Amagi, Yukiko.”

Yukiko gasped, and put her hand to her mouth.

“Tatsumi, Kanji.”

Kanji growled, and curled his hands into fists.

“Kujikawa, Rise.”

Rise just looked like she was expecting this.

“Aragaki, Takari.”

I gulped before turning the page.

“Shorigane, Naoto.”

Naoto shielded her face with her hat.

“Dojima, Nanako.”

Yu’s face read an unreadable emotion.

I squinted; there seemed to be one name left…

“Adachi, Tohru.”

We all looked at each other in confusion.

Suddenly, we heard an engine pull up to the scene. It was an ambulance. As we all trickled out of the car, a bunch of medical experts swarmed out of the vehicle, along with a certain police officer...

"Shit, Dojima-san!" Adachi yelled as he stepped out.

He then took sight of us, “G-Guys?” 

Naoto approached him, “Perfect timing. We were unable to find the culprit, but we have found some of his notes. They list all the names of the previously kidnapped people, with one exception,”

Adachi raised an eyebrow, “An exception?”

Naoto handed him the notebook, “Do you see now?”

Adachi didn’t read down far enough.

He looked at Naoto, “You’re right! Aragaki-kun’s on here!”

“That’s not the exception,” Naoto pointed out.

“It isn’t?” Adachi questioned, “But he wasn’t kidnapped.”

This just in, Adachi understands, “Don’t tell me that mugger was actually-”

“We’ll get there when we get there,” I growled, “Go down.”

Adachi read onwards, and spotted it, “Wait, what? What am  _ I _ doing on here?”

“We were hoping to ask  _ you _ that, Adachi-san,” Naoto answered, “What connections do you have with the killer?”

"I... I don't know, Dojima-san was more hell-bent on solving it than _I_ was!"

Adachi's eyebrow was lowered, “Come to think of it, I  _ do _ think I remember the name “Namatame” coming up somewhere… oh yeah! I got a call from him a while ago!”

Our eyes widened, but Chie was the first to speak up, “You did?”

“I think he was saying something about TVs… and that he could see people suffering, and being tortured I think, but-”

“TVs!?” Naoto questioned, “What did he say?”

“Umm… I don’t really remember, but I knew that no one was gonna believe him, because that’s what I told him…”

Our ears perked up as Adachi continued, “I just told him something like “Try to make sure that they don’t die” or something… wait, no! It was to hide them! I told him to hide them where the killer couldn’t find them!”

“You told them what?” Kanji growled.

Adachi held his hands up in surrender, “I didn’t think much of it at the time. Do you know how many calls a day I get? I just said the first thing that came to mind…”

“For now, let’s look at the facts,” Naoto intervened, “The killer gained the idea of hiding someone from whatever suffering they might experience through Adachi,”

“But where might someplace like that be…?” Kanji asked.

“Heaven.”

We slowly turned around to Yu, confusion in our eyes, which was eventually replaced by realization.

“That’s… That’s it!” Naoto confirmed, “The killer thought that the Midnight Channel was a sign of suffering, so he threw them in the TV to-”

“Stop the suffering… with death,” I answered for her.

“H-Hold on,” Adachi protested, “What are you guys talking about?”

We all ignored Adachi.

“For now, it’s getting too late,” Naoto pointed out, “We should all get some rest. Especially you two,”

Naoto pointed to Yu and I. Neither of us had the strength to bother to tell her we were fine, so Yukiko carried Yu home, and Rise carried me home, all the while Adachi yelled at us to explain.

…

No one that night had the strength to watch the Midnight Channel.

…

Yosuke and Teddie were reading manga in Yosuke’s room, neither of them having the heart to pull out anything else, not even to look at magazines. The two didn’t speak to each other at all, neither could even if they wanted to.

Suddenly, both of their phones buzzed at the same time. They looked at Yosuke’s phone, which was closer.

They were displayed with one, simple word. One word, from Yu, who never had the need to start a conversation in the group chat.

“Sensei…” Teddie sobbed, “I feel so sorry for him,”

“I do too," Yosuke told him, “I’d give anything just to see a smile on his face again…”

Yosuke looked off into the night, “Guess that ship has sailed… partner,”

…

After Yukiko dropped off Yu at his house, she couldn’t stand to be alone, even though he asked her not to stay. So, she decided to spend the night at Chie’s.

They both were talking in hushed tones, trying desperately to venture off the topic of Nanako, and failing. Their eyes were red when their phones buzzed simultaneously. They both looked at their phones in unison, and then at the single word displayed, and then at each other.

“Narukami…” Chie began, “I can’t even begin to attempt to relate to how he must feel…”

“Poor Narukami…” Yukiko muttered, “All alone in that house of his… no sister to comfort him… no uncle to mourn with…”

Yukiko looked down, “I just want Senpai to be happy…”

Her eyes teared up, “Is that too much to ask?”

“Oh, Yukiko…” Chie began. She pulled her friend into a tight hug, and stroked her hair, “There, there, Yukiko… it’ll be okay, I promise…”

Yukiko hugged tightly back, the both of them sobbing into each others' shoulders.

…

Kanji was sewing yet another cute doll for himself, because sewing was all he could do. It was the only thing that calmed him down enough to prevent him from punching a hole in the wall. Sewing took away the majority of the rage, but it didn’t take away any of the pain. 

His phone buzzed. Kanji glanced at the noise, and looked at the single word displayed, as well as the sender; Yu.

He curled his hands into a fist, and physically shook, “We’ll get her back, Senpai… I promise you…”

He closed his eyes, “Please… just hang in there until then, man…”

Kanji’s heart rate monitor reached triple digits, “We’ll make that bastard pay, and save Nanako… or…”

Kanji breathed in, and breathed out slowly, carefully managing his anger.

“Or I’ll die trying.’

He broke the needle.

…

Rise was curled up in the blankets on her bed. She didn’t feel like doing anything else other than sleeping, but it was a lost cause; she couldn’t sleep anyways.

Takari had advised her not to stay, and that he needed to go to bed early since 1. It was late enough, and 2. He was just in half of a car crash.

The room was illuminated by a faint light from her phone. She picked it up, and read the word to herself.

Her eyes started to water, “Narukami… oh Jesus, Narukami!”

The realization hit her, “I didn’t even think about how he must be feeling… his only family is gone… he must be so lonely…”

Rise’s eyes widened, “Wait… I-”

It hit her. Something that Takari had told her once before came rushing back. 'Everyone had upsides and downsides. No one was perfect.'

Yu had been perfect on the outside, but… this was a time where he couldn’t be perfect anymore. His flaws began to leak out, and the lead would only get larger as time went on.

And as she mourned for Yu on and on, his weakness began to show to her, and she never knew how obvious it was until now.

His weakness was his ability to care.

On the inside, Yu cared far too much about everyone, which is why when they were taken away from him, he broke down. On top of explaining why Yu seemed so distraught by Nanako's disappearance, it also explain why he refused Rise's confession so bluntly; he was afraid of losing Yukiko, so he did all he could to prevent anyone from taking her from him. 

Or him from her.

It also explains why he was so sad to see Rise go, despite having coldly rejected her.

It also explained why his weakness was so hard to understand in the first place, because he didn’t want any of his friends to either get hurt by his weakness, or to abandon him because of it... it all made sense now...

Tears flooding in RIse’s eyes, she was now completely certain that she understood her Senpai’s pain to its fullest degree.

“Senpai… I’m so sorry for… for everything…”

She closed her eyes, “I understand your pain. I finally understand…”

She clutched her phone, which had turned off by the time she did so, “I promise you… I will support you, Senpai. I will guide you to the truth… and we  _ will _ rescue Nanako,”

…

Naoto was sorting through all the files regarding the case, desperate to find any new information about Namatame that connected to the murders. She told herself that she had to do this. Not just for her Senpai’s sake… but also for any future victims to come.

Her phone buzzed. She glanced at it, not expecting it to stop her from working, but of course, it did.

She reached for her phone, and pulled it closer to her.

She read the single word.

Naoto sighed, “Senpai… I’m…”

She dropped her head, and looked down, “I’m so, very sorry for everything. It was unjust for such a fate to fall upon such a small girl. And for you to bear such a heavy burden…”

Naoto rested her pencil on her desk, “But know this. Justice will come. Justice always comes. We will bring justice to Nanako, and make Namatame atone for his crimes…”

She closed her eyes, “I will personally make sure of it…”

…

As the TV faded to black, I breathed in heavily, and exhaled softly. I had applied bandages upon my back, due to the bruises. 

_ Heaven, huh? Hmm… fitting. _

That was all the reaction the Midnight Channel would ever get out of me. I had used strength that I didn’t have to watch it, and I fear that would alter my perception of the broadcast if it hadn’t already.

My phone lit up on my desk. I walked over to it, and read the single message.

I sighed; Yu rarely ever texted unless it was very important, and this was his first time starting a conversation in the group chat.

“Hang in there, Narukami,” I advised, “For this very well might be your last night of unrest or your first…”

I left my phone on, displaying the single word to the night sky.

‘Tomorrow.’

…

On first glance, it would be obvious as to why Yu would send such a message. We all knew what he was saying, but it’s a little more than ‘we will start looking for Nanako tomorrow’.

It was no secret that the night they figured out the next target was in the TV, the next day would be their first day of exploration.

The teammates all knew this, and since Yu rarely ever texted, they also knew that there was more to this message than meets the eye.

Yu was torn apart by Nanako’s disappearance. We all knew he would give anything to spend one more day with her, so it wasn’t too hard to figure out what he was going to sacrifice to save Nanako as soon as possible.

By sending that message of ‘tomorrow’, he did not merely mean they would look for Nanako tomorrow. Yu planned on  _ rescuing _ Nanako tomorrow, which the team has never done before.

It seemed… impossible, as foreign as that word was. However, none of us cared. The killer was in the TV with Nanako. If we failed, it would truly be the end.

It was all or nothing now...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I now have a new favorite chapter!


End file.
